Prejudice and Pride
by bballgirl32
Summary: Arrogance and bigotry can be well-founded, but perhaps that is when it is most important to fight through prejudices. Sometimes choices have to be made, even if they go against everything that you stand for. TomxGinny.
1. Prologue

**A/N- **

**Alright, I have a couple of things that I need to explain super-quickly before you start this story. **

**Most importantly, Prejudice and Pride is AU. When the story starts, Dumbledore is alive and at Hogwarts, the Golden Trio are off searching for Horcruxes, and Ginny is just starting her seventh year at Hogwarts. The Battle of Hogwarts did take place, but it ended with an indefinite winner, therefore drawing out the war until September of 1998, when the story begins. Everything is exactly the same as in the books up until Dumbledore's death. **

**Lastly, I just want to thank you for reading this story. I really hope that you all enjoy it, and I look forward to getting your feedback. **

**Thank you**

**...**

_Miss Weasley, please report to my office immediately, _

_A.D. _

_P.S. The password is Gobstoppers_

Ginny stared at the note that had been resting on top of her dinner plate. The Headmaster's usually flawlessly handwriting was shaky and rushed. His words were cheerless and strangely succinct.

There had to be something wrong.

Ginny picked up the note and stashed it in her pocket. Ignored the curious looks from her housemates. Trekked listlessly out of the Great Hall.

As she walked, Ginny's mind wandered to her family and friends. Almost all of them were on the run somewhere. Bill hadn't been heard from in months. What if he had turned up dead? What if Fred or George hadn't been careful enough and Voldemort had found them? What if…

Ginny stopped in front of the twin gargoyles that guarded Dumbledore's office. The redhead's nervousness dissolved into fear, her heartbeat increasing until she could scarcely breathe.

"Gobstoppers," Ginny choked out. The doorway opened, and Ginny apprehensively stepped through. Clenched her hands into fists. Closed her eyes as the spiral staircase moved beneath her.

One, two, three tense seconds passed. The staircase stopped.

Ginny rapped her shaking hand against the door that now loomed over her. The sound echoed through the silence.

"Please come in, Miss Weasley," Albus Dumbledore answered, his voice unusually soft, strangely powerless. Ginny slowly entered Dumbledore's office, doing her best to ignore the way that despair clung to the walls like cobwebs.

Dumbledore looked up from a book he had been reading. Dark circles lined dull blue eyes. Ginny fancied that she could see the faintest light of hope somewhere in the old wizard's features, but if it was there, there was too little of it to reassure her.

What could possibly affect _Albus Dumbledore _so strongly?

"Hello, Miss Weasley," the Headmaster said. His lips cracked into a weary smile.

"Professor?" asked Ginny. "Are you… are you okay?"

"I've been better," sighed Dumbledore, "But thank you for asking." Wrinkled hands disappeared into an elaborate glass dish and emerged with a lemon drop. "How are you?"

"Fine," answered Ginny, her eyes focused on Dumbledore fingers as he deftly unwrapped the candy.

"Good, good," Dumbledore said. His voice cracked. "And how is your family?"

Ginny shrugged.

"Fine. I guess Mum's doing better. Bill… scares me, though. He hasn't contacted us for a long time."

"That is quite good about your mother," said Dumbledore. He vanished the lemon drop. Grabbed another one. "And I do admit that I have been worried about Bill as well, although I do believe that we shall not have to worry for much longer."

"Professor?" Ginny asked. He was losing it. That was it. The Headmaster was finally losing it. "You aren't… I mean…"

Dumbledore laughed weakly, hauntingly. Fawkes squawked from his perch.

"I'm not crazy, Ginevra." He began unwrapping his new lemon drop. "I simply think that at times like this, it is most beneficial to focus on the positive things in life."

"Um. Is there _anything _positive going on right now?"

The lemon drop disappeared. Dumbledore unfolded himself from his chair. Walked to the large bookshelf behind his desk. Grabbed a black velvet box from the uppermost ledge.

With deliberate care, the Head Master returned to his seat and set the box on the desk in front of him.

"Yes, yes, of course. In fact, the thing that first comes to mind would be that…" His eyes clouded over with grief. "… even though I have just learned that Harry Potter has been killed-"

Ginny made a strange choking noise and hunched over in her chair; it felt like she had just been punched in the stomach.

Dumbledore ignored her reaction.

"-I did happen to find something that can save the world as we know it."

The Headmaster opened the black box to reveal a snitch-sized emerald necklace, surrounded by sparkling diamonds and inlaid in a white gold background.

"Harry's dead?" Ginny asked, too shocked to even look at the pendant that lie in front of her.

Dumbledore's eyes shone with tears that he would not allow himself to shed, but the hope that Ginny had seen on his face before inexplicably seemed to grow stronger. Ginny couldn't see what he was hopeful about. The war was over. Voldemort had won.

"Oh, not for long, my dear," he told her, taking the necklace out of the box while being very careful not to touch the actual gem.

"Professor, I'm sorry, but-"

"Wait for just a moment, Ginevra, and then I will have this all explained." He set the necklace in front of her. "Do you know what this is?"

Ginny shook her head, too upset to care.

Dumbledore did not look at all offended by her apathy.

"It is the Stone of Eons, Miss Weasley."

"How interesting. Now, can you please tell me what's going to happen to everyone now that Harry's gone? How in the world-"

"Do not panic," Dumbledore said, a small amount of authority creeping back into his voice. "I want you to focus your attention on the matter at hand. The Stone of Eons is an extremely powerful gemstone with the ability to transport a single person backwards through time-"

"Oh," Ginny interrupted, her eyes widening. The same hope that had been touching Dumbledore worked its way into her bloodstream, surging quickly through her heart. She sat up a little straighter. "So you're going to go back in time to kill Voldemort when he was a baby?"

"Unfortunately, no. You see, the Stone's magic can only be unleashed by someone with pure intentions. If a person were to go back with the wish to kill a baby, it would not work."

"Okay, so go back to when Harry's parents were killed and save them. That's a pure intention."

"Voldemort had already taken numerous precautions to ensure his immortality by that time. I could not kill him even if I did go back."

The corners of his lips were still turned up at her, despite all of this. There was something else, some other grand plan that Ginny didn't see.

"I see. So what are you going to do?"

"I'm not going to do anything, Ginevra. You are."

She froze at that. "I am?"

"Yes, you are. You see, a person cannot go back in time with the intention to kill, but the intention to help a person would be quite pure enough for the stone."

Ginny started to shake her head as she realized what Dumbledore was saying. As desperate as she was to save Harry, every fiber of her being recoiled at the idea of getting anywhere near Tom Riddle.

"You want me to go back in time and turn Riddle into a good person?" she asked incredulously. "There's no way… That can't even be possible-"

"It's not," Dumbledore interrupted her. "Any child conceived with the use of a love potion can know no love, and without love, a person cannot be truly good. However, they can trust. I want you to go back in time and earn his trust, Ginevra. I want you to befriend him."

_No, no, no. _

"But why me?" she asked desperately.

"I have a couple of reasons, not the least of which is your ability to make friends, even with Slytherins on occasion. Your personality will be greatly beneficial in gaining Riddle's friendship."

"What's the other reason?"

He took a deep breath.

"The other, most important reason, is that I trust you to complete the mission after you have gained his trust."

"And what would that mission be?" questioned Ginny nervously. Dumbledore got to his feet and headed to a vault behind his desk. Ginny watched as he muttered something to open the vault, then pulled out what she recognized as the Sword of Gryffindor.

"You want me to stab him with the sword?" Ginny asked, her brow furrowed.

Dumbledore chuckled. "No, no, no. I need you to destroy his Horcruxes with it. You know of the diary, and Tom will also have a dark stone ring on him nearly all the time. You are to get the diary and that ring away from him in any way possible and destroy them. Then-"

"Then you want me to kill him," finished Ginny, still skeptical. The Headmaster's smile vanished completely.

"Yes, I want you to kill him. I am going to charm the vast magic in the necklace to send you back to this exact moment in time when and only when Tom Riddle is dead."

"And if I don't think I can do this?" Ginny asked.

Dumbledore's face turned grim.

"If you do not complete this mission, life as we know it will end. Lord Voldemort will become the supreme ruler of the world, and all Muggles and Muggleborns will be forced to live as animals."

_Oh. _

Ginny swallowed as the weight of what she had to do finally started pressing down on her. She wasn't going to get out of this. She would have do go back in time. To befriend the person who had destroyed her childhood.

"Say that I agree to do this," said Ginny weakly. "What happens if I can't kill him?"

"I am sorry to say that you will be left in 1944."

Ginny's cheeks drained of all color.

"Okay, I can handle that," she said weakly. "No reason that I can't kill him. Will I be able to take anything with me?"

"Only items that are on your person," Dumbledore said. "Minerva and I have prepared a shrunken trunk for you with time appropriate clothing and robes, in addition to a good amount of galleons. I also have a letter that you are to deliver to Headmaster Dippet that gives him as few details as possible while still projecting the severity of the situation. There will also be a detailed outline of your life story, as well as an order to make you Head Girl."

"Head Girl?" asked Ginny.

"The spot was open that year because the previous candidate for the position was murdered by Grindelwald. I realize that it will give you extra responsibility, but it will also give you excuses to interact with Riddle, which will be of the utmost necessity."

Ginny bit her lip. She really didn't want the spot, but she knew that Dumbledore was right. Riddle wouldn't talk to her unless he was forced to.

"Now," Dumbledore continued. "You will be a pureblood witch known as Ginevra Peverell. That is a powerful pureblood name, and it should make things easier for you during a time when not many Muggleborns attended Hogwarts. You were home schooled by your father near Norwich until your parents were killed by Grindelwald this summer. Because of their deaths, you have come to Hogwarts to complete your education."

"Pureblood. Peverell . Home schooled near Norwich. Got it," said Ginny. "Is that all?"

"It should be. Is there anyone you would like to say good-bye to, or anything that you would like to grab before you leave?"

Ginny knew that she was only going to be gone for a couple months, but she still wasn't sure if she could handle any emotional good-byes. But there had to be something that she could grab, just to remember the old world by…

She shook her head. If she left Dumbledore's office, she wasn't positive that she would have the strength to come back.

"No, there isn't," Ginny said resolutely. "I'm ready."

"Very well then," Dumbledore said. "It will only take a minute for me to adjust the magic in the necklace to send you back to September 1st, 1944."

Ginny then sat and waited while he pointed his wand at the enormous stone and started mumbling incantations.

"It's ready, Ginevra," the Headmaster said finally. "I have no great words of wisdom for you, no secrets that will make this any easier, but you know what you are doing. I trust you to succeed."

_Wow. No pressure there at all. _

"Thank you, Professor. It means a lot to me," said Ginny, her voice choked as what she had agreed to really sunk in. She was going back in time. She was befriending Riddle. She was going to _kill _him. Oh, Merlin. She couldn't do it. She couldn't, she couldn't, she-

"Here is your trunk, the sword, and the letter," Dumbledore told her, interrupting her train of thought. Ginny took a shaky breath and grabbed a trunk that was about the size of her hand, a thick envelope, and the sword of Gryffindor. With shaking hands she tucked the trunk into the pocket of her robes, pushed the sword up her sleeve, and stuck the letter into her waistband.

_I'm really doing this. I don't want to do this. _

"As soon as this necklace is around your neck, there is no going back. Are you sure about this?"

_Harry is dead. Charlie is dead. Dad is dead. Mum is crazy. The war is almost lost. Don't be selfish. Do what Harry would do. _

"Yes, I'm sure," she said.

Dumbledore gently put the necklace over her neck and let it fall to her chest with a small thud.

Nothing happened. Maybe the intention of befriending Tom Riddle was cancelled out by her intention to kill him. That would make sense.

"Do you remember how you felt about Riddle during your first year, Miss Weasley?" Dumbledore asked, his voice still calm and steady. Ginny nodded. "Focus on how you saw him then. Focus on wanting to see him like that in real life."

Ginny closed her eyes and tried to remember the Tom who had been her first ever friend, tried to remember his kindness, and his intelligence… the way that he seemed to genuinely care for her. She thought about how much she had cared for him, and how much she would have liked to see him, how much he needed her as a friend.

Then everything froze for a moment before the necklace yanked her forward and threw her through time.


	2. First Impressions

When the world regained its balance, Ginny was standing in the exact same place that she had been before. The only difference was that, instead of Dumbledore, a podgy gray-haired man with round, beady eyes was sitting at the desk in front of her.

Those beady little eyes slowly grew larger and larger as the man's brain gradually processed Ginny's sudden appearance.

"Are you Headmaster Dippet?" Ginny asked politely, heart fluttering like hummingbird wings.

"Er. Um. Yes," said Dippet gruffly. Ginny adjusted the sword in her sleeve to make sure she didn't drop it, then dug in her robe for the thick envelope that Dumbledore had given her.

"Good. Then this is for you."

Dippet grabbed the envelope and tore it open with nervous, tentative movements that made Ginny wonder if he didn't think she was sending him a bomb.

"I come in peace, if that makes you feel better," said Ginny. She tried to make her voice reassuring, worried that Dippet wasn't going to trust or accept her story.

The Headmaster only nodded unsurely as he took the letter from the envelope and started reading through it. Ginny scrutinized the portly old man as his eyes scanned the parchment, managing to grow even bigger as he continued reading. Ginny fidgeted back and forth, hoping and praying that he didn't think she was crazy and throw her out of the school.

When Dippet finally finished, he set the letter down and leaned back in his chair, an enormous puff of air rushing from his pursed lips.

"I will not ask you anything about your mission," the headmaster said with an air of finality. "Nor will I treat you as anything more than a normal student. You will be Sorted at the opening feast in approximately two hours. I will send for you then. In the meantime, I trust that you know how to get to the Head dorms. The password is vox."

Then he looked back down at his paperwork. That was it. It seemed extremely anticlimactic, but then again, the entire day had been anticlimactic. There had been no speeches, no tearful good-byes. There was no 'succeed or die' or 'you'll never be able to come back'. It was all so clean and simple that Ginny could hardly believe that it was even happening.

It would probably remain clean and simple, too. At least until the killing came up.

With a shake of her head, Ginny said a quick thanks, and then left to go to the Head dorms.

Following the path that Percy had shown her during her first year 'just incase she needed expert advice', Ginny quickly came to a portrait of a cherubic little girl with curly brown hair and red cheeks. The girl held her pink dress out in a curtsy when she saw Ginny approaching.

"Hello," the redhead greeted her politely. She backed a little in anticipation of the swinging portrait, then said, "Vox."

The girl waved sweetly, and the portrait swung open, granting Ginny entrance to the spacious common room. Beautiful cherry bookshelves surrounded overstuffed armchairs, a white loveseat, and a big green sofa. Two wide staircases branched off of the main room, one labeled 'Tom Riddle', and the other one already magically changed to 'Ginevra Peverell '.

Ginny headed up the staircase with her name on it and entered her room. It was plain, but definitely nicer than the normal dorms the other students would have to sleep in, with an enormous bed, her own personal desk, and a big bay window overlooking the grounds.

"I'm so bragging to Hermione about this when I get back," Ginny said to herself as she tucked Gryffindor's sword away in a dresser drawer. She spent the next couple of hours unpacking her suitcase and getting her things ready for the following morning. It seemed like hardly any time passed at all when a house elf popped into the room and told her that the Sorting was about to begin.

Ginny took a deep breath to collect herself, then hurried down to the Great Hall. It was still empty save for the teachers, but she could hear voices approaching from outside. Dippet stepped forward and ordered Ginny to stand in a room adjacent to the staff table until he called her in. She took up her post just as the first students entered.

Within minutes, the Sorting Hat had finished its vastly boring, repetitive song, and Dippet began calling names. Ginny's stomach wound tighter and tighter with every name called as she grew closer to starting her crazy, impossible mission.

"Zabini, Elizabeth," the Headmaster crowed, and Ginny peeked her head into the Great Hall just enough to see a small dark-skinned girl get stuck in Slytherin.

Dippet then said, "That now concludes the Sorting of the first years. However, this year we also have a single seventh year transfer student who must be Sorted as well. Ginevra Peverell, an exceedingly intelligent girl, has been named this year's Head Girl, and I hope that you will treat her with respect. Miss Peverell, please step forward."

_ Oh, God. This is it. _

Ginny nervously stepped into the Great Hall, all of her focus on putting one foot in front of the other without tripping. She felt about fifty million eyes looking directly at her, and the thought that one pair of those eyes belonged to Tom Riddle made her hands shake.

_ Focus_, Ginny commanded herself, but it was impossible amongst the curious whispers and probing stares. Her face glowed as brightly as her hair. Left. Right. Left. Right.

Ginny reached the old stool. Sat down. A callous hand placed the Hat over her head. It was still big enough that its tattered fabric covered her eyes and blocked the other students from view.

For a small amount of time, the Hat was silent, no doubt sifting through Ginny's scattered and anxious thoughts.

"_A time traveler," _it finally began._ "Interesting. Brave, and on the mission of a hero, but using questionable means to achieve your ends." _

"_Questionable means? Tom Riddle is evil… he deserves worse than what I could possibly give him." _

"_A very Slytherin thing to say. But you aren't a Slytherin. Not intelligent enough to be a Ravenclaw, either. Hmmm. So Gryffindor or Hufflepuff." _

"_Gryffindor. Gryffindor. I am __**a **__Gryffindor," _Ginny pleaded. Nobody liked Hufflepuffs. They were annoying.

"_I am not so sure. You are loyal, with a big heart, and will work tirelessly to achieve your goals. _

Ginny had a feeling that this wasn't going to be good.

"_But I'm here, back in time, risking my life! Being __**brave**__." _

The Hat ignored her.

"_My instincts say that putting you in Hufflepuff is the only choice that will benefit you fully." _

"_But why? Do you know something I don't? Does Riddle have a soft-spot for Hufflepuffs or something? This is important. I __**need **__to know." _

Ginny swore that she heard the Hat chuckle before it bellowed, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

The Hat was taken off of Ginny's head, revealing the cheering Hufflepuffs and jeering Slytherins.

Ginny groaned. _Great. Now Riddle will think that I'm weak and foolish before he even meets me. _

With that thought, she exasperatedly blew her fringe out of her eyes and hopped off the stool, struggling to keep a friendly smile on her face. She was met by dozens of cheerful 'hellos' when she arrived at the Hufflepuff table and had no problem finding a seat between a pretty blonde girl about her age and a scrawny boy who couldn't have been older than a third year.

"Hi," the girl said happily when Ginny sat down. "I'm Allison Macmillan. Do you know that you're the first Head that Hufflepuff has had in thirty two years?"

"No, I didn't know that," said Ginny awkwardly. A spotlight seemed to be trained directly on her face.

"And you've got to be really smart, too," a redheaded girl across from Ginny said. "Because you got it without even going to school here."

"It's surprising you even got into this house. What'd the Hat say? Why here?"

Every Hufflepuff was watching her intently, listening for her answer. Apparently having a Head Girl was a big deal for them.

Ginny gulped. What would happen when they found out that she wasn't _that _smart.

"Er. It told me I was loyal, had a big heart, and worked hard," she said, her face hot.

"Just like all of you."

"But you're the Head Girl," a boy, maybe twelve, protested. "You've got to be special." The food appeared across the table, but barely anyone looked at it. They were all staring at her.

"Not special," Ginny said. "Just…. Er…." _Lets see. What's a believable lie… _"I came to Hogwarts under special circumstances. I was home schooled by my parents until they were killed by Grindelwald… And Dippet thought I'd empathize well with the students."

"Oh, your parents died! I'm so sorry."

"You're so strong!"

"I bet that you're smart, too."

"Grindelwald killed my brother. I know what it's like."

"It's a miracle you're in Hufflepuff."

And on, and on, and on.

Ginny had always known that the house was friendly, but really, the people in it were ridiculous. Yes, some of them eventually got bored and started focusing on their meals, but at least a dozen students remained crowded around her, chatting like she'd been best friends with all of them her entire life, until Dippet announced that everyone was dismissed.

Ginny quickly waved a weary good-bye to the friendly Hufflepuffs, then ducked out of the Great Hall and started hurrying to her common room.

_I rather would have been in Slytherin. At least all of them just would have ignored me, and-_

_**BAM! **_

She crashed into something warm and hard, then bounced back and closed her eyes, preparing to land on the cold stone floor… but a pair of strong hands fastened themselves around her arms and steadied her.

"Well, well, well. If I haven't caught myself a Hufflepuff," a smooth voice laughed. Ginny opened her eyes and realized that she was being held captive by a tall, lanky, Slytherin. He was looking down at her tauntingly with green eyes so pale that they were nearly colorless.

"Let me go," she ordered. The boy laughed, revealing a set of crooked teeth.

"Let you go? Why should I? You ran into me. For all that I know, you're a filthy little Mudblood and I'll have to burn these robes."

"Filthy Mudblood?" Ginny snapped angrily. "Says the deformed ape with the mammoth nose and ugly teeth. You do realize that too much inbreeding has side effects, don't you?"

The Slytherin got her insult immediately, his pale eyes flashing with a surprising amount of emotion.

"Why, I ought to-" he started, but he stopped halfway through his sentence and bowed his head.

_What the heck? _

"What are you doing, Mulciber?"

Ginny's blood chilled in her veins. She knew that voice.

"I, er, she ran into me, My Lo-… Riddle."

The sound of soft footsteps echoed towards them.

"Let her go," Tom Riddle said coolly, his voice coming from directly behind Ginny. It took everything that she had not to whirl around and curse him until even a hundred Horcruxes couldn't save his life.

"B- Why?"

The Head Boy's annoyance was becoming tangible, and Ginny willed the boy standing beside her to shut up before he got them both killed.

"I do not have to explain myself to you. Now let her go." Mulciber's hold reluctantly loosened before he released her arms completely. "Very good. You may leave us now."

Ginny's hands started shaking, getting worse and worse as Mulciber hurried out of sight. Then he was gone, and she had no choice but to turn and face Tom Riddle.

She froze in place when she realized that he was _right _there. Her nose was only a foot from his worn gray sweater, but she refused to move back even though Riddle towered over her so much that she had to crane her neck to see his face.

The Heir of Slytherin looked the same as he had during her first year. He hadn't lost his wavy brown hair or slate gray eyes, and his features were still perfect, his skin still pale and smooth. At first glance, it appeared as though an angel had fallen to earth.

When she looked more closely, though, there was something… off about him.

Riddle's clothes were cheap and faded. There was a little scar just above his right eyebrow. He had chapped lips, and his cheeks were hollow, like he hadn't been eating very well.

He wasn't the perfect, terrifying creature from her nightmares. Despite herself, Ginny couldn't help but think that even though everything under his control was pristine and perfect, there was a part of him that looked like the poor orphan he had made himself out to be during her first year.

"Are you okay?" he asked gallantly, his eyes shining with a concern that looked completely sincere.

Charming. Articulate. Polite.

Like writing in her diary all over again.

"_You haven't been writing very often. Are you okay, Ginevra?" _

"_I think I'm opening the Chamber of Secrets. Help me, Tom." _

"_Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you. Trust me." _

"_I'll always trust you." _

Ginny took one last look at his dark eyes and ran for the Head dorms.


	3. What's in a Name?

Ginny sat at the bay window that spanned half her room, staring at the starry sky outside. So far, she'd gotten herself stuck in Hufflepuff, had pissed off one of Riddle's Slytherin cronies, and ran away from the Head Boy himself.

Dumbledore had to have been crazy to send _her_, of all people, on a mission that had to do with a teenaged Lord Voldemort. After her first year, he should have known better. Now Ginny felt like crap, was too terrified to even think about sleep, and wanted nothing more than to go back to 1998.

Fear picked at her brain like a hungry vulture.

If she failed, everyone would die. She'd either be stuck in 1944, or she'd be dead. Giving up wasn't an option, but the thought of continuing her mission made her stomach churn unpleasantly.

_"For Harry?" _Ginny's conscience tried. Riddle's smirking face popped into her head. Overtook the Boy Who Lived. _"Dad? Charlie? Neville? Hermione? Ron?" _

Riddle's image was replaced with mental snapshots of her friends and family. Laughing. Joking. _Living. _

Ginny pressed her forehead against the cool window glass. She couldn't give up. There were too many people who she would be letting down… Besides, things weren't going _that _badly. She could still force her mission back onto the right track.

Everything would be okay. Everything _had _to be okay.

…

"Hello. My name is Ginny Peverell. I apologize for running away from you last night. I was scared and confused," Ginny told her reflection the next morning, struggling to keep a smile on her face. It looked more like a grimace.

_ Think of Fred and George. Laugh!_

The grimace became bigger, and a hysterical giggle popped its way out of her mouth. She ignored it and tried again. "I'm so, so sorry for running away from you. I just saw the Slytherin tie and panicked. Please forgive me."

_ That sounds too pleading._

"I got scared when I looked into your eyes and realized that they were nothing more than soulless, empty black holes," she tried cheerfully.

_ Am I trying to kill myself? _

A door closed in the distance. That meant that Riddle was leaving for breakfast. Ginny took a deep breath. It would be best to get the unpleasant introductions over with.

Quickly scooping up her bag, Ginny hurried out of her room, forcing herself to keep walking casually when she saw Riddle descending his own staircase.

"Good morning," he said cautiously, as though _she_ were the ticking time bomb who could explode at any second.

Ginny opened her mouth, but words didn't come out. For the first time, she noticed a black stone shining on his hand.

_ Horcrux! Horcrux! Horcrux!_

Riddle raised an eyebrow in expectation.

_ Crap. Say something._

"I like your ring."

_ Oh, no. Anything but that._

Riddle hesitated for only a second, his face still completely impassive, before he offhandedly said, "Is that a standard greeting where you come from?"

Ginny released a breath she didn't know that she had been holding. He wasn't suspicious yet, thank Merlin.

"Sorry," Ginny said quickly, hopping off of the last step and landing only a few feet away from the Head Boy. "I'm bad with formalities. I didn't get out much back in Norwich, so…"

Riddle opened the portrait and stepped back to let her through. Ginny quickly ducked past him, muttering a quick thank you as he exited behind her.

"Perhaps I should help you, then," Riddle smirked. "I'm Tom Riddle, Head Boy. You are?"

"Ginny Peverell," she said, thankful that he seemed to buy her excuse. "And I kind of apologize for running away from you last night. I…" Oh, bugger. What had her excuse been? "…Your friend made me nervous, so I was a little bit jumpier than normal."

There. That made sense.

"Mulciber is a fool. If you are talented enough to be Head Girl, you have no reason to fear him," Riddle said, giving her a smile that would make any other girl feel like a million dollars. It made her nauseous.

"Yes, well, he had my wand hand pretty much occupied, so my amazing scores weren't going to help me very much. I suppose I could have kneed him in the crotch, but I'm not sure that it would have accomplished much in his case."

_ Kill me now. _

Yet, Riddle's lips still turned up into a smirk, even though it seemed to require a conscious effort on his part.

"That is a very… violent thing to say, considering you are a Hufflepuff," he said, effusing friendliness into his voice. "Is there a certain reason you were put in that house?"

_ He isn't suspicious already, is he? _

Ginny studied him closely and saw nothing but politeness on his face. That didn't mean very much, though. She knew firsthand how good of an actor he was.

"The Hat said I would do well there," she said carefully as they entered the Great Hall. Allison Macmillan caught her eye and waved her over, and Ginny sighed. "Speaking of my house, I'm afraid that I should probably go. See you later, Tom."

"Riddle," he corrected, and when she looked back towards him, she saw that his jaw was clenched, just slightly.

Seeing an opportunity, Ginny gave him the brightest smile she could manage.

"But I like Tom. It suits you."

"And why would you think that?" asked Riddle.

"Well, I can see why you don't like it," Ginny speculated, calling on something that her mother had told Ron a long time ago. "It is really plain, but that just means you can let your actions define you instead of your name."

He stared at her for several seconds before shaking his head.

"Call me Riddle."

Their gazes met, and Ginny felt her stomach go cold as she got lost in those two empty holes. It was like what she thought looking into the eyes of a dementor would be like.

"It's a name. Is it that big of a deal?" she asked, her voice a lot less confident than she would have liked.

"Yes, it is," he answered.

Ginny bit her lip and nodded.

"Okay, then. I'll see you later _Riddle_." Then she headed off to the Hufflepuff table, giving cheerful replies to the chorus of 'good-mornings' that met her when she neared her housemates.

"Hi," Allison said when the redhead slid into the empty space next to her.

"Morning," said Ginny. She grabbed a piece of toast and started spreading butter on top. Allison turned to say something to a tall blond boy, but she soon returned her attention to Ginny, friendly smile still bright as lightning.

"I see you've met the Head Boy," the blonde girl said. "I saw him walking you to breakfast."

Ginny nodded carefully.

"Yeah. He did."

Allison smiled a little, her blue eyes twinkling prettily.

"It doesn't surprise me. He's so polite… Terribly distant, I suppose because he's a Slytherin, but nice." Allison glanced towards the Slytherin table, then grinned. "And good-looking. Very, very good-looking. What do you think?"

Bile rose in Ginny's throat as she thought of too-long fingers, a nose-less face, and red, slit-like eyes.

Then she remembered the enormous crush that she'd had on him during her first year. Not reacting typically would draw attention to herself. Ginny shrugged.

"He's… got nice hair, I guess."

Not liking the turn the conversation had taken, Ginny finished the rest of her breakfast in silence. When she was done, the Head Girl stood up to head to her first class of 1944; Care of Magical Creatures.

…

When Ginny got to the little area near Hagrid's hut, where she was sure that classes were held, she was shocked to see a little group of only five other people, all of them boys. They all started whispering when they saw her approach, and a dark-haired Gryffindor gave her a sympathetic look.

The redhead looked down and let her long hair mask the bright red of her cheeks.

Dippet would not have signed her up for the class if girls didn't take Care of Magical creatures in the '40s, so that couldn't have been the problem… Ginny had no idea what the strange looks were about. Hesitantly, she took a seat in the grass a few feet away from any of the boys.

Not thirty seconds later, the class fell dead silent. A light _thump, thump, thump _could be heard echoing towards the hut in the absence of noise_. _

Cautiously, the redhead looked up, eyes widening when they landed on a scraggly looking man, not much older than any of them, limping towards the class on a wooden leg. Black hair grew wildly down his back, and narrow brown eyes darted back and forth, looking over the class but never settling on a single student. He had a hook in place of his right hand.

Ginny gulped. She now understood why so few students took the class.

"I am Professor Kettleburn," the man announced, coming to a stop in front of them.

His voice rang out loud and deep, the effect dramatized by the way he put an emphasis on every individual word. "Welcome to N.E.W.T. level Care of Magical Creatures. I see that Dippet has managed to warn many of you away from this class since the engorged ashwinder incident of last year's school play."

He paused and looked over all of them with a proud gleam in his eyes.

"However, I will not take my anger at the Headmaster out on you." There was another momentary pause, and the six students exchanged very wary looks. "To start the year, we shall be raising dark and dangerous creatures, the likes of which you have never seen! PARTNER UP!"

Ginny sat back and waited for the guys to finish pairing up, then hesitantly approached the angry-looking Slytherin who was stuck with her. Even without his sharp features and platinum-blond hair, Ginny would have had no doubt that he was a Malfoy. No one else could sneer so potently.

"I suppose I'm with you," he said distastefully, turning his nose up at her exactly like Draco would have done fifty years in the future.

"You don't have to make it sound like a death sentence," Ginny said indignantly. "I'm not that bad."

The Malfoy did not reply. Kettleburn's eyes flitted over to them, then onto the other two pairs, both of who were chattering amicably. The gruff professor waited for them to quit talking. When they didn't, he opened his mouth and bellowed, "SILENCE!"

Quiet settled over the class immediately.

"Good." Professor Kettleburn smirked, then waved his wand and summoned a large cardboard box that was emitting questionable squeaky noises. "Now come forward and grab your puffskeins."

"Puffskeins?" a Slytherin asked, looking shocked. Ginny gaped. She hadn't expected anything less dangerous than a manticore.

"Dippet had a talk with me," Kettleburn growled angrily. "He's watching what I bring into the castle."

"So it'll get more exciting once you figure out how to sneak things past him?" the Gryffindor asked. Kettleburn laughed gruffly.

"Of course. But for the next month, you will be raising puffskeins. One per group, figure out when it sleeps and what it eats, and if it dies, you die. Got it?"

They all quickly nodded the affirmative.

"I thought so. Now grab your creature."

Malfoy looked at Ginny and said, "I'm not getting it."

"Neither am I."

"I am Abraxas Malfoy. MALFOY. Do you know what that means?" he asked.

That he was Draco's grandfather. That was only a little creepy.

"That you have a strange name," Ginny said bitterly. Malfoy's electric blue eyes seemed to freeze over, and she didn't miss the way that his left hand twitched towards his wand. It appeared that Riddle wasn't the only one whose name was a sore spot.

"It means that I do _not _take orders," Malfoy hissed.

"Get it, or I'll take twenty points from Slytherin," Ginny threatened. Malfoy's eyes widened, as though he could not believe her sheer audacity, but he got up and stomped away. Ginny laughed as she watched him go.

Malfoy came back a moment later with a ball of ivory-colored fluff in his hand. He shoved it in her direction, and then sat as far away from her as possible. Ginny ignored him and smiled at the adorable little puffskein.

"We should call it Charlie," the Hufflepuff said, taking in its enormous brown eyes, just like her favorite brother's.

Her dead favorite brother's…

"_Miss Weasley, I'm afraid that I have something to tell you." _

_Ginny looked up from her transfiguration text and gave Dumbledore a confused look. What was he doing there?_

_"Yes, Professor?"_

_"I believe that you know about the mission that several Order members were on to stop Voldemort's forces from taking over France, do you not?"_

_She nodded apprehensively._

_"They were apprehended near Paris, and a distraction had to be provided for them to escape. Charlie… took it upon himself to provide that distraction. I am sorry, Miss Weasley, but he was murdered by Voldemort himself."_

"Charlie?" asked Malfoy. "Why?"

"Because, I like that name," Ginny said stubbornly, and the Slytherin must have seen something in her eyes because he didn't question it at all.

The two of them worked quietly together the rest of the class period, sending glares in each other's direction every few seconds and only speaking when absolutely necessary.


	4. A Pair of Brown Eyes

Ginny sat on one of the comfy yellow couches in the Head's common room, looking at Riddle out of the corner of her eye. The Head Boy had his head in a book, but he raised his eyes every few moments to look between her and the entrance to the room, waiting for the first prefects to arrive.

She didn't know why he had to look so normal. Over the past few days, Ginny had noticed that more than anything else, how little Riddle looked like a heartless murderer. He hung out with a group of people who genuinely appeared to be his friends, answered questions during classes, even walked her to breakfast. It grated on her, the fact that he seemed like nothing more than an overachieving seventeen year-old boy. A friendly one, at that.

The portrait swung open, pulling Ginny's attention away from Riddle, as the first prefect arrived. Short, sandy-haired, and strong as a tank, Tyler Avery sauntered into the common room with a psychotic grin slopped across his face.

"Riddle," the sixth year said, suppressing his smile long enough to bow his head in the direction of the Head Boy, then turning it on Ginny full force. "And Ginny, Ginny, Ginevra. How positively delightful to meet you."

Ginny tensed as Avery ambled over to them and sat himself down in a big green chair. He was another one of Riddle's cronies, the one who had taken out Tonks in the future. She wished that she could rip him out of his chair and tear him apart piece by piece. Instead she nodded at him in acknowledgement.

The portrait hole creaked open again, thankfully erasing the possibility of any actual conversation.

Soon twenty six people were crammed into the common room. Ginny shared classes with some of them, like Abraxas Malfoy, Erin Stevens, Charlus Potter, and Cassiopeia Black. Others weren't quite as familiar, but she could manage to place names with most of the faces.

"I believe that everyone is here," Riddle announced when Grace Martian, a fifth year Hufflepuff, ducked into the room five minutes late. "I now start this meeting, Wednesday September 3rd, 1944.

"Headmaster Dippet has given us quite a busy schedule for this year. In addition to decorating for the Halloween feast and our annual New Year's ball, we are also to find at least two ways in which we can help those who are affected by the war. To begin this meeting, Peverell and I will take any ideas you have on that matter."

"Why don't we do something to help kids whose parents were killed in the war?" Erin Stevens, a seventh year Hufflepuff, said. "I mean, since both of our Heads are orphans, wouldn't it be appropriate?"

Despite the emphatic agreements from most of the prefects, Ginny's eyes flashed to Riddle, not sure how he'd react to having his heritage stated so blatantly. His polite smile hadn't faltered.

Once it became apparent that the Head Boy wasn't going to send Avery after anyone, Ginny spoke up for the first time.

"I like that idea," she said, then paused for a moment to think. "We could ask Dippet for permission, and then contact the Ministry and ask for thirteen names…, break up into pairs, and…" Ginny hesitated, not able to think of anything else, but Erin quickly picked up where she left off.

"Each pair could visit their assigned orphan instead of going on some of the Hogsmeade weekends, and get them Christmas and birthday presents, and maybe even write to them if they can read."

"That's perfect," said Ginny. Then she remembered Riddle and thought about how much he'd dislike the idea. "If, of course, it's okay with you, Riddle."

The Heir of Slytherin hesitated for just a moment, and Ginny fancied that she could see him weighing every pro and con in his head, before he finally said what anyone would expect him, the perfect Head Boy, to say.

"I see no problem with it."

Not even his dislike of helping others could tear away his perfect façade.

"Well, I do happen to have a problem with it," said Cassiopeia Black, her face twisted into an expression of distaste. "We should at least vote on it before you drag everyone off to what I see as an enormous waste of time."

When Ginny looked, she saw that almost all of the other Slytherins appeared to be of the same opinion. Avery and Riddle were the only ones who didn't seem to care, and Avery was probably just doing what Riddle was.

But why weren't the other Slytherins?

Ginny furrowed her brow as she looked at the five disgusted-looking prefects.

Then she realized it.

Three of them were Blacks, and then where was a Malfoy and a Warrington. Those were three of the richest pureblood names there were. None of them would ever even think about serving a poor orphan, especially not one raised by Muggles. By the looks those rich Slytherins were sending the Head Boy, she would go as far as to say they hated him.

Apparently Riddle wasn't as all-powerful as she had assumed.

"A vote would only be fair," answered Ginny bitterly. "I suppose I can understand why you'd have a problem with it. Dealing with dirty little orphans is so hard. Those kids are so selfish to let their parents die and force us into taking care of them. They probably only do it to be annoying."

Several of the prefects laughed uncomfortably, Riddle smirked, and Cassiopeia turned her nose up at everyone.

"You aren't going to make me feel guilty for making fun of them. If Grindelwald killed their parents, they're probably stupid blood traitors anyway."

Ginny's eyes flew to her at that accusation, and suddenly her wild black hair, hooded eyes, and that statuesque build all stood out…

_Bellatrix Lestrange, tearing across the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, her long hair dancing behind her._

_"Expelliarmus!" Ginny shouted at her back, but the black-haired witch whirled around and deflected the spell, a cat-like smile spreading across her face when she realized who'd fired it at her._

_"That was weak, blood traitor. Just like your parents."_

_Ginny's blood felt ice cold._

_"My parents?"_

_Bellatrix laughed hysterically._

_"Yes, your filthy traitorous parents. Daddy's already dead, but I think your mummy is still alive somewhere. She wasn't doing very well after seeing your father's head explode, though. I wonder what she'll do when she finds her daughter's cold, lifeless-"_

_"Crucio!" Ginny shouted, her anger fueling the spell. Bellatrix went down and started screaming, screaming until Yaxley started firing spells and Ginny was forced elsewhere._

Ginny was on her feet in an instant, raising her wand at Cassiopeia and starting to form the word, "C-"

Then someone put a gentle hand on her shoulder. Ginny jerked her head around in surprise, her gaze meeting a pair of eyes so brown and spirited that they looked like they belonged on a Labrador puppy. She blinked a couple times, then focused enough to see that the eyes were stuck on a face, which was attached to the neck of a skinny brown-haired Hufflepuff.

"Calm down," he told Ginny, his voice warm and soft.

Ginny took the boy's advice, taking an enormous breath to calm herself down. Unforgivables got you put in Azkaban, and she couldn't afford that.

"Sorry," Ginny said to the boy standing in front of her, to the entire room. "Er. Let's get back to the meeting."

The boy nodded and sat back down in the seat next to hers. She hadn't even noticed that he was there in the first place.

"Yes, I believe that would be a good idea," said Riddle smoothly. "All in favor of helping the _orphans_, raise your hands."

Nearly everyone, excluding the Slytherins, approved of the idea.

"Okay," said Ginny, her voice still slightly shaky, "helping the orphans, it is. Does anyone have ideas for the second charity project?"

"We could raise money to help buy supplies for the victims," said Charlus Potter. "You know, like have an auction."

"Or a bake sale," suggested Grace Martian.

"Yes," agreed the Head Girl excitedly. "A bake sale. That would be perfect."

"No way," said Cygnus Black. "Baking is house elf work."

"Then have your bloody house elves make your food for you," snapped Erin irritably. Then, looking back at Ginny, she smiled and said sweetly, "A bake sale would be perfect."

"All in favor?" asked Riddle tonelessly.

Several people, mostly girls, raised their hands. Ginny counted out loud, beaming when she got to fourteen votes.

"Majority," she said happily. "And I think that's everything for today. Riddle and I have to get your ideas approved by Dippet before we do any more. Go ahead and grab your patrol schedules on the way out, and we'll meet again in two weeks."

The prefects rose to leave, and Ginny turned to thank the brown-haired boy for stopping her, but he was already gone. She furrowed her brow and looked around the room just in time to see him ducking out of the portrait hole, a patrol schedule already in his hand. The redhead shook her head in confusion.

Oh, well. All that orphan talk probably opened a good window of opportunity for having a chat with Riddle. She could do that instead.

Ginny searched the room for him, but he was already leading Tyler Avery up to his room.

With an annoyed huff, Ginny grabbed a patrol schedule of her own and read it for lack of anything better to do. Riddle had volunteered to make them, and when she looked more closely, she could see why. He stuck himself with Avery, no doubt to spend their patrols talking about Death Eater plans.

Ginny shook her head and continued looking down the list before she found her name. She was with…

The Head Girl groaned and banged her head against the coffee table, mentally cursing Riddle in a hundred different ways.

What in Merlin's name could have possessed the Head Boy to put her with _Abraxas Malfoy_?


	5. Speaking Without Words

"Abraxas Malfoy?" asked Allison incredulously. "Riddle gave you patrols with Abraxas Malfoy!"

"Unfortunately," muttered Ginny into her oatmeal. She was tired and cranky; nightmares had kept her up half the night. Thoughts of Abraxas Malfoy did not help.

"Horrible? You call being alone, at night, with Abraxas Malfoy horrible?" asked Allison.

_Stupid traitor, _Ginny thought darkly as she washed the oatmeal down with a swig of pumpkin juice. Of course Allison wouldn't think Abraxas Malfoy was horrible. She was probably too transfixed by his amazingly blue eyes to notice him for the git he really was.

"Yes, I call it horrible," said Ginny slowly, trying to make her friend see sense. "You do realize that he'll probably kill me, right?"

"Or kiss you," said Allison. "And even the small possibility of that makes everything worthwhile."

"Kissing Malfoy?" the Head Girl asked incredulously. Her eyes flew to the Slytherin table and settled on said Malfoy. He was currently laughing at something Orion Black had said, no doubt at the expense of someone else. "I'd rather snog Kettleburn."

"See, now that's a full out lie," Erin Stevens said from across the table. "Malfoy is annoying, but at least you know that he brushes his teeth."

"I'd say it's a lie because Kettleburn is scary, while Abraxas is a work of art," said Allison.

"You put too much time into checking out _Slytherins_," said Ginny. "They're all unattainable. Just ignore them."

Allison looked at her like she'd suggested the worst sort of blasphemy possible. With a small shake of her head, Allison said, "Not unattainable. Especially not when you get hours alone with them in the middle of the night. You just have to play your cards right."

"No thank you," said Ginny to Allision. Then she turned to face Erin and said, "Actually, how about this? I'll switch _you_. Whoever you're with has to be better than Malfoy."

The curly haired Hufflepuff sighed. "I honestly would, if Dippet didn't prohibit it. I got stuck with Mason McCreery. A couple hours alone with him will just get me committed to a mental hospital."

Mason McCreery. Ginny ran over the list of names she'd compiled in her head throughout the past four days, but no Mason McCreery came up. That was funny. She knew most of the prefects. "Who?" she asked.

"Our house. Skinny, average height, brown hair. Seventh year?" asked Erin. "He's the one who stopped you from freaking out on Cassie during the prefect meeting."

"Oh," said the Head Girl, eyes widening in recognition. She still needed to thank him for that. "I never knew that was his name. What's so bad about being put with him?"

"Ugh. He's just creepy," Allison said emphatically, bright eyes wide and filled with a strange amount of emotion. "I've never seen him talk to anyone in this house, not in our year, anyway, and he never really says anything… just looks at people all the time."

"Definitely not the type of person I want to patrol the castle with alone," agreed Erin.

Smiling again, Allison added, "Unlike Abraxas Malfoy."

Ginny didn't think Mason had looked that bad when he helped her out during the prefect meeting, but, then again, she had no doubt that her housemates (especially Allision) were overreacting. Ignoring them and waiting to form her own opinion was probably the best course to take with that matter.

"Speaking of Abraxas Malfoy," Ginny said, chugging the rest of her pumpkin juice in her haste to end the conversation, "I've got Care of Magical Creatures with him right about now, so I'm afraid that you'll have to admire your Slytherins without me."

Erin rolled her eyes, and Allision added a suggestive, "Have fun." Ginny made a face at the both of them and tromped off, shaking her head at Allison's comment. She had a better chance at having fun with Gellert Grindelwald.

...

Everyone except for Kettleburn was already outside of Hagrid's hut when Ginny arrived at Care of Magical Creatures. Malfoy and his two Slytherin friends were off in a corner, messing around with their puffskeins, but all of them looked up when she approached. Malfoy pointed in her direction and whispered something obnoxiously loudly, prompting the other two Slytherins into fits of bark-like laughter.

Ginny resolutely ignored them, taking a seat a few feet away from the others and glaring fiercely at Malfoy.

Almost like the blond loved making her life hell, he met her gaze and sauntered over to her, his face twisted in over exaggerated distaste.

"You don't have to make such a big deal about being stuck with me, you know," Ginny said as he sat down, holding Charlie loosely in his arms. "I'm not exactly thrilled that I'm with you either."

"Aren't you?" he drawled cockily. "I never would have guessed, seeing as you put us together on the patrol schedule. It actually looks like you were very interested in getting some alone time with me."

Ginny gritted her teeth, her face turning an angry red.

"I did not make that schedule," she said. "Riddle insisted on doing it, probably just so he could piss me off."

Malfoy seemed genuinely surprised, but instead of sending his ego crashing back to earth, like she'd planned on doing, it made him smile… sort of. It was more of a smirkle. A smirk and a smile. Slytherins couldn't _actually _smile. Although a smirkle from Abraxas Malfoy, paired with his dazzling blue eyes, was still kind of amazing…

And Ginny needed to stay away from Allison. The crazy blonde planted evil thoughts in her head. Ginny furiously reminded herself that Abraxas was a Malfoy. Weasleys hated Malfoys.

"You're being honest, aren't you, little Hufflepuff?" Malfoy asked. "You really don't like me."

_Well, duh. _

"Took you long enough," Ginny said, with extra bitterness just because of his stupid smirkle. Malfoy seemed to chew over her response as he stroked Charlie thoughtfully, looking a lot like Doctor Evil.

"You know, poor little orphans really shouldn't talk to Malfoys like that," he finally said, not sounding threatening at all. Ginny wondered if it was because he wasn't trying to be cruel, or if it had more to do with that fact that a pampered rich guy with perfectly groomed hair and designer shoes couldn't be all that scary in the first place. "It could cause trouble."

"I can talk to you however-" Ginny started, but was cut off by Professor Kettleburn's bellow of, "SILENCE!"

Malfoy's eyes danced with laughter, and Ginny turned angrily away from him to listen to their professor.

After a short introduction, Kettleburn reminded the class that all partners were to swap custody of their puffskeins, then ordered the ones who had cared for the creatures the previous week to write a short essay on their behavioral habits while the others got acquainted with their new charges.

When he was done, Ginny turned to Malfoy and Charlie and held out her hands.

"You heard him. Give it here." Then she noticed how strangely contented the puffskein looked, and added, "As long as you haven't trained it to kill me or something."

"Does it look like I have time to train a bloody puffskein?" Malfoy snorted. Charlie fidgeted in his arms, as if wondering what had made his master so angry.

_I've learned never to underestimate a Malfoy, Buddy. _

As it turned out, Ginny didn't have to worry about Charlie attacking her with razor sharp teeth. Instead, the puffskein forced its way out of her hands the second Malfoy let go of it and toddled back over to the Slytherin. Malfoy smirked and gave it a halfhearted shove back in Ginny's direction, but Charlie refused to move more than a few inches away from the blond.

"It goes four days without seeing me," Ginny hisses, "and it falls in love with _you_! What in Merlin's name did you do to it?"

"Absolutely nothing. It just has good taste," said Malfoy, once again trying to push the creature away from him.

"Ha ha. You should be a comedian," Ginny scoffed, reaching out to scoop Charlie up. She kept a firm grip on him as he tried to get back to Malfoy, and after a few moments, the puffskein finally quit struggling.

The rest of the hour passed by in silence, with Malfoy working on his essay, and Ginny doing her best to keep Charlie from running back to him.

When class was finally done, Malfoy drawled, "Please, try not to kill it", as Ginny took off for the castle.

She glared after him before rushing back to the Head's dorms and hastily shoving Charlie into her room before Charms.

...

After all of her classes were done that day, Ginny staggered up staircase after staircase in a journey from the dungeons to the library. It was far enough as it was, but the fact that her bag weighed at least as much as she did made the trip ten times more difficult.

When Dumbledore had told her she was going to be Head Girl, Ginny had figured that it meant she would have to attend a few prefect meetings and help out a first year every now and then. What it actually meant was that Dippet would stick her in the hardest classes possible, and then everyone would expect her to excel in them.

The Head Girl sighed as she rounded a corner and approached another staircase. It was daunting enough that an exasperated groan escaped her lips as she prepared to climb it.

"Do you need help?"

Ginny whirled around in surprise, not having heard anyone approach her. Somehow, she wasn't startled to see the brown-haired Hufflepuff from the prefect meeting standing only a couple feet away. He seemed like the sneaky-type.

"Er, I think I've got it," she said, taking in the boy's size. He was a couple of inches taller than her, but skinny. The type of guy she could probably beat in an arm wrestle.

He shrugged indifferently. Ginny waited for him to say something else, or maybe leave, but he just stood there and stared at her.

Maybe Allison had been right to call him creepy.

"You're Mason McCreery, right?" Ginny finally asked, trying to force some conversation out of him.

"Yes," he said. That was it. No elaboration.

"I'm Ginny Peverell."

His lips curved up into an amused smile as though she had just said something funny.

"I know."

He still hadn't looked away, hadn't even blinked, it seemed like. Just stared straight at her with those playful puppy-eyes that didn't fit his demeanor at all. Ginny decided that it would probably be best to get her thank-you out of the way and leave him to his creepy staring as soon as possible.

"Um. Thanks for stopping me from cursing Cassiopeia at the prefect meeting. It probably would have gotten ugly otherwise," she said blurted, then started up the staircase, figuring that Mason wouldn't give her any kind of intelligent reply.

"I didn't want to," he said, sending Ginny to a screeching halt. "Stop you, I mean. Cassiopeia deserved to get cursed, but you would've gotten into trouble."

_So he can speak in full sentences_, she thought in surprise, turning to face him.

"Why do you do that?" asked Ginny. His eyes turned questioning, silently asking her what she was talking about. "_That_. Not talk."

"Why speak if you have nothing to say?" Mason asked. His smirk got a little bigger. Ginny crossed her arms over her chest. The creepy bugger was enjoying himself.

"People say nonsense all of the time," Ginny argued. "Life would be boring if people only said when they needed to."

"Then it's a good thing that I'm the only one who goes by that rule," Mason answered, smiling as her turned and started up the staircase. Ginny hesitated, then fell into step next to him, struggling to keep up because of her heavy bag.

Even though Mason was interesting enough that Ginny wanted to make conversation with him, she couldn't think of anything else to say, and they made it the rest of the way to the library without another word. She hesitated by the door, waiting for him to give her some kind of farewell or something, but he said nothing. Figuring that he'd leave her at the door, the Head Girl headed into the library.

Mason followed after her.

Just as Ginny was wondering if she needed to be concerned that Mason was stalking her, he veered over to a table of what looked like first and second years. She watched in surprise as they all smiled and greeted him, then started vying for position at his side, thrusting books into his hands and asking questions loud enough that she could hear them from her position beside the door.

Mason continued smiling amusedly as he addressed the kids, looking like he was actually enjoying himself in the swarm of little chits. Okay, maybe Mason McCreery was extremely weird, but Ginny decided that in his case, it wasn't really a bad thing.

With a small smile of her own, the Head Girl quickly picked out the books she needed, then began to tackle her enormous mountain of homework.


	6. Crime and Punishment

Ginny stretched and looked at the clock, sighing when she saw that it was almost six. She'd have to go to supper soon, and she wasn't even halfway finished with her homework.

Shaking out her hand, the Head Girl started to scribble down the conclusion to her Transfiguration essay, but the elderly librarian's impatient looks distracted her to the point that she shut her book with an annoyed 'thump'. Apparently someone wanted to go to supper, also.

"I'm going, I'm going," Ginny muttered under her breath, sweeping her things off of the table and into her bag. She supposed that she'd have to stop by her room and check on Charlie before supper, so it wasn't a bad idea to head out a little early anyway.

With a grunt, the Head Girl heaved her bag over her shoulder and departed for the Head's common room, resisting the urge to stick her tongue out at the librarian when she passed the old woman's desk.

The hallways were crowded with students when Ginny emerged from the library, most of them laughing and talking as they headed in the direction of the Great Hall, thrilled that their first week of school was already finished. They were so happy and content. It almost made her smile. It _would_ have made her smile, if Tyler Avery hadn't caught her eye and started waving wildly in her direction.

Thinking fast, Ginny quickly rounded a corner, her eyes scanning the corridor furiously for some kind of escape… Then she saw it- a golden tapestry that hid a secret passageway. Fred had showed it to her several years ago… or fifty-some years into the future, and it would take her to an unused hallway only a short distance away from the Head's common room. Perfect.

At first Ginny hustled down the dark passageway, but when it became apparent that Avery had given up on her, her pace slowed and she allowed herself to take several deep breaths.

That's when she heard the angry voices. No, not voices. As she got closer, Ginny realized that it was just one voice. One very, very familiar voice. She came to a stop near the end of the passage, where she could easily hear Tom Riddle's rage-filled words.

"You are becoming reckless, Mulciber. First the incident with Peverell, using dark magic in class, now getting into a fight with a _Malfoy_. Your behavior is unacceptable and could compromise everything we have been working for."

"I- I am sorry, My Lord," Mulciber said, sounding utterly terrified. "I will be more careful, I promise."

"It is too late for apologies," said Riddle coldly, and Ginny could imagine how his eyes would be smoldering with anger. "You should have thought about the consequences before you started flaunting power that you do not have. Nothing you say will do anything to lessen the severity of your punishment."

"M- My Lord-"

"Do forgive me, Mulciber. I really do not like doing this," the Heir of Slytherin said coldly. There was a moment of silence, then a murmured, "Silencio".

One second passed. Two. Then the sound of a body thumping to the ground.

Ginny let out a small whimper and dropped her heavy bag with a loud _thud. _Everything went very, very quiet as Riddle listened carefully, trying to gauge if the noise he heard was more than a figment of his imagination. The Head Girl didn't allow herself to so much as breathe, her heart crashing against her chest so loudly that she swore she'd be caught.

Finally, Riddle must have given up, and his footsteps resonated down the hallway.

Ginny released the breath she'd been holding, then waited to make sure the Head Boy was really gone. After going a few minutes without hearing anything, Ginny slowly pushed open the portrait that acted as a door to the passageway and poked her head out of it.

There, sprawled out across the floor and opening his mouth to release soundless pleas for help, was Bryce Mulciber. Half of his face was burned off.

From his forehead down to the left side of his chin, most of the Slytherin's skin was puffy red and blistered, but there were worse sections, where it was burnt so badly that it was almost black. Ginny could _smell _it, like cooking meat.

Without even thinking about how big of a creep he was, she knelt down beside him and took his hand in hers, knowing that not even he deserved what Riddle had given him.

"It's okay," Ginny said reassuringly. "I'll get you to the hospital wing. Don't worry. Madam Lucas will help you."

Mulciber didn't say anything… couldn't say anything, because of the charm Riddle put on him, but his grip on her hand tightened, and it almost looked like he gave a weak nod.

Okay. So he was conscious. Actually, he probably wasn't in that much pain at all, since so many of his nerves were damaged.

"It doesn't hurt, does it?" Ginny asked. When he only gave a weak shrug of his shoulders, she cursed under her breath. That couldn't be good. "Um. That's a good thing. Now I can move you to the hospital wing without too much trouble. That's okay, isn't it? You think you can make it?"

Another nod. Ginny wasn't particularly reassured, but it wasn't like she had any other options, so, with a shaking hand, she waved her wand and gently levitated him into the air, watching closely to make sure that he wasn't in too much pain. It didn't look like he was.

"That was the hardest part," Ginny assured the Slytherin as they started forward, back into the passageway she had come through. It'd be quicker that way, not to mention that it erased the chance of running into curious students. "See? This isn't too bad at all. And once we get to the hospital wing, Madam Lucas will fix you up perfectly. I'm sure of it. I mean, it can't be that bad. It _looks _like terrifying dark magic, but it's going to be fine."

They came to the tapestry that signaled the end of the passage, and Ginny pushed it aside slightly, made sure that no one was around, then quickly floated Mulciber into the main corridor. Being out in the open stopped her nervous rambling, which was more for her good than his, but it also propelled her to quicken her pace. It would be bad if anyone ran into them. Very, very bad.

Ginny hustled around a corner, being extremely careful not to bang Mulciber's face into a statue, then ducked into another hidden passageway. This one would lead them directly outside the hospital wing, thankfully.

"Almost there," she assured Mulciber breathlessly. "I'm sure that there weren't even be any permanent damage. I mean, sure, some nerves look to be totally fried… not helping, am I?"

Mulciber didn't answer, but when Ginny leaned forward to make sure he was awake, his eyes were open. And he was crying. Ugly, stupid, Slytherin ape-boy was crying. With actual tears. Feeling embarrassed, Ginny quickly backed away, nearly slamming him into a wall with the sudden movement.

"Sorry," she muttered, blushing beet red. Something told her that he wouldn't particularly happy that she'd seen that, although Ginny honestly couldn't blame him for the tears. He'd just been chewed out, then got his face burnt to a crisp, and now his masculine pride was taking a pretty big blow.

Not allowing herself another look at the gangly Slytherin, Ginny continued on, ducking under cobwebs and cursing when she forgot about a step and nearly face-planted into the ground. Finally Ginny caught a glimpse of a brick wall. With a weary smile, the Head Girl pressed the middle brick, third from the top, and stepped carefully into the hallway, releasing a sigh of relief when she saw that it was empty.

Ginny used her free hand to prop open one of the wooden doors to the hospital wing and poked her head in, calling, "Madam Lucas?"

No one answered. The Hufflepuff cautiously looked around the room. It appeared to be empty… except for a head of platinum blond hair sitting on one of the beds, craning his neck in an attempt to see who'd just spoken.

"Great. Malfoy," she muttered under her breath. Mulciber visibly tensed, and Ginny bit her lip. Having her float him into the hospital wing with tears in his eyes would only invite more taunting than Malfoy surely already gave him.

Ginny carefully set the Slytherin on his feet, throwing one of his long arms around her shoulder to steady him, then waved her wand to erase his tears.

"You'll be able to make it to a bed, won't you?" she asked, trying to ignore the disbelieving look that he was giving her.

"Yeah," he said hoarsely, the silencing charm evidently worn off. "I'll be fine."

Then they started forward, moving slowly to compensate for Mulciber's dizzy, unsure steps. Once they actually got into the hospital wing, Malfoy's electric blue eyes flew to them immediately.

"Did you beat him up for me, Peverell?" the blond asked waspishly. "I'd say he deserves it, after-" Then Mulciber looked up, throwing his face into the bright hospital lights. Malfoy blanched, looking like he was going to be sick. "Oh, God. What did you do to him?"

"I didn't do anything," Ginny panted defensively, pushing down the coverings on one of the beds and helping Mulciber into it. "I found him like this."

Malfoy sat up in bed to get a better look, looking perfectly fine to her. She was about to ask him why in the hell he was in the hospital wing when she noticed his right arm hanging limply at his side, jiggling slightly as he moved.

"_First the incident with Peverell, using dark magic in class, now getting in a fight with a _Malfoy_." _

Mulciber must have cursed the bones out of his arm.

"It's pretty, isn't it?" Malfoy asked when he noticed her gaze. He lifted his upper arm, smirking when the forearm hung on the remaining bone. "Mulciber cursed half the bones out it. Although…" he shook his head at the other Slytherin's rigid form and sighed. "I'd rather be in my place than his right now."

Ginny gave him a strange look, thinking back to her second year. When Draco had gotten scratched by a hippogriff, he'd had his father sue the school. Abraxas was hurt worse than Draco, and he was downplaying his injury. How strange.

"I'm truthfully glad that I'm in neither of your places at the moment, especially with no one around to help," she finally said. "Speaking of which…"

Malfoy made a face.

"Madam Lucas is gone. Riddle came and got her only a few minutes ago, said it looked like one of his friends had been attacked. Apparently you found his poor little buddy right after he left, except you were smart enough to bring him to the hospital wing with you."

Mulciber groaned, and Ginny clenched her teeth. Of course Riddle would go running off to tell someone about his 'friend' as soon as possible. That would deflect any suspicion aimed at him. "Great. Now we'll have to wait," she muttered, resignedly taking a seat next to Mulciber's bed. "I just hope it's not too late when they get back."

"He won't die," promised Malfoy. If Ginny didn't know better, she almost would have thought that he was trying to comfort her. "If he's still awake, there isn't any real brain damage. The only problem will be scarring."

"Scarring," Ginny muttered, gently reaching forward to brush Mulciber's hair back out of his face. His pale eyes met hers, and even though he wasn't crying anymore, he looked terrified. She took his hand again, not commenting when he grabbed onto hers so tightly that it hurt.

"And it probably hurts worse than he's letting on," added Malfoy. "Not all of those nerves are dead. You see where it's red and shiny? He'll be feeling that."

"How do you know this?" the Head Girl asked, turning in her seat so that she could see Malfoy's face. It looked like he was being honest, and what he said made sense, but what in Merlin's name would a Malfoy know about burn injuries?

"My uncle-" he started, then cut himself off when the door creaked open.

"Madam Lucas?" asked Ginny, flying to her feet. Thankfully, the short, gray-haired matron entered the room… followed by a certain tall, dark-haired Head Boy.

She stared at Riddle for a moment, eyes widening in horror, before she managed to focus on a rapidly speaking Madam Lucas.

"Oh, Miss Peverell. I am quite sorry if you've been waiting long, but Mister Riddle said he found one of his companions lying unconscious a short distance away from your common room. He was not there when we looked, however, and now I'm getting very worried-"

"He's here," Ginny interrupted her. "I had to check on my puffskein before I went to the Great Hall to eat, and Mulciber was lying not too far away. And he's not unconscious, his face is… burnt off. It looks like dark magic."

The gray-haired witch hurried forward to the Slytherin boy's bed, then released a small cry of shock when she really saw him. "Oh, this is horrible, worse than I had imagined. Was there anyone around when you found him?"

Ginny's eyes flashed to Riddle warily, and he gave her a miniscule shake of the head. That's when she knew. He had put everything together. The thud he'd written off as his imagination, how she found Mulciber minutes after he had cursed him, and the way they didn't run into each other when they had to have been going in opposite directions.

She could rat him out, of course, but that would be suicidal. No one would believe her.

Her gaze not leaving the Head Boy's, Ginny shook her head.

"No. There was no one."

"Oh… my. Well, I will be speaking to the Headmaster about this shortly, but for now I'm afraid I must tend to Mister Mulciber. Mister Malfoy, your treatment will have to wait for a moment."

"I don't mind," the blond smirked. "My entire arm is numb, anyway. Oh, and if I remember right, I was demanding Mulciber's expulsion last time we spoke? That is no longer necessary."

Madam Lucas clucked disapprovingly, then bustled over to Mulciber's bed, shooing Ginny away. The Head Girl whispered a gentle good luck to Mulciber, then ducked past the worried-looking matron. She was planning on sneaking out of the hospital wing before Riddle, but he nonchalantly stepped in front of her, his usual pleasant smile on his face.

"Would you like me to escort you to the kitchens?" he asked, the picture of politeness. "I am sure that you would like to get something to eat after missing supper."

"Er. Actually," Ginny said, thinking as quickly as she could. "I- um. Was planning on going back to our common room and grabbing my puffskein to bring up to Malfoy. I think it would cheer him up, don't you?"

Riddle's eyes flashed darkly. She vaguely wondered if he was _that _annoyed, or if he just wasn't bothering to hide his emotions as closely around her now that she knew what he was.

"There are no creatures allowed in the hospital wing," he said coldly. "Now, come on. I am worried that you haven't gotten enough to eat today."

Knowing that any excuses she provided would only prolong an imminent encounter, Ginny straightened her back as confidently as she could and plastered a classic Hufflepuff grin on her face.

"If you insist, _Tom_. You lead the way?"

Riddle nodded stiffly and exited the room, not giving Mulciber a second glance. Ginny waved to the injured Slytherins, then jogged after the Head Boy, praying that her next conversation wasn't going to be her last.


	7. Common Sense

They went to the kitchens. Ginny would have bet anything that Riddle would have dragged her into an unused classroom, or maybe back to their common room, but he took her straight to the kitchens, just like he said he would. Then he held out a chair for her, politely asked a house elf for a plate of leftover lasagna and a tall glass of chocolate milk, and sat himself down in the spot across from hers.

The Head Girl watched with suspicious eyes as Riddle folded his hands in front of him and stared at her, evidently waiting for her to say something. He most likely wanted to know what she thought of the scene that she'd overheard, no doubt so he could determine his next move.

That wasn't going to happen. If Riddle wanted to talk, he would have to speak first.

After a minute of awkward silence, a small house elf brought Ginny her food, then ordered the other ones away from them, saying that "Master Riddle always requires his privacy."

It was strange, that they knew the Heir of Slytherin's kitchen habits, but Ginny didn't question it. There were more important things to be thinking about. Like whether or not Riddle poisoned her lasagna.

"It's safe," he told her, breaking their silence. "I'll take a bite myself, if you would like."

Voldemort spit on her fork? That would probably be poisonous in itself.

"I trust the house elves, but thank you," Ginny said politely, taking a big bite to make a point. Riddle nodded tersely.

"Very well then. And is your meal satisfactory, or would you rather me order you something else?"

"It's fine, My Lord," Ginny answered demurely. She took a drink of her milk, watching carefully as a spark of anger danced through Riddle's eyes. Apparently he had hoped that she would start doubting herself if he acted politely enough.

There was a small moment of silence, and then Riddle looked at her disappointedly, like she was the one who had done wrong.

"I see that you have already jumped to conclusions about what you evidently overheard," he said with a stiff smile. "I was afraid that this would happen when I saw your expression in the hospital wing."

Ginny had to hold back a laugh. If Riddle thought there was any way to twist this in his favor, then he was barking mad. He was lucky that she didn't laugh in his face. Shaking her head, Ginny arranged her features into a pleasant smile eerily similar to Riddle's.

"No offense, Riddle, but I don't think that I've jumped to any conclusions," Ginny said calmly, deferentially. The Head Boy started to speak up, but she raised a hand to silence him. "Did Mulciber call you 'My Lord'?"

"Yes, he did. However you seem to have taken it out of context."

"Did you say something about him compromising everything you were working for?"

The Heir of Slytherin was definitely getting annoyed, but Ginny forced herself to stay calm and keep her head held high. Showing fear was not an option.

"I did," he said.

"And did you hit Mulciber with a dark magic curse?" Ginny asked.

"Yes."

Ginny paused a second, going over her response in her head to make sure that it didn't sound too omniscient. Once she was satisfied, she said, "So if I were to say that you were the rather… violent leader of a… slightly dodgy group, would I be extremely far off?"

For a moment she wondered if Riddle would lie. She wondered if he had some sort of excuse thought up to deny what could almost be considered fact. But even an evil mastermind had his limits, and the Head Girl had come up with an airtight case.

"No," responded Riddle slowly. He unfolded his hands and leaned back in his chair slightly, looking almost as though he were relaxing. "That was actually a very… accurate, succinct conclusion. I am rather impressed."

"Are you just saying that to mollify me?" Ginny asked.

The Head Boy smirked.

"No. That was the truth," he said. "Very few of your schoolmates would have gotten close. However, I am even more impressed by your composure. Tell me, Peverell, are you afraid at all?"

_"Don't be scared, Ginevra. I would never hurt you." _

_"B-but I can never remember anything after writing to you, Tom. I have to stop."_

_"No, you don't."_

_"Tom! Please, just let me go."_

_"You aren't afraid of me, are you, Ginevra? Because you don't need to be. I'll do everything I can to keep you safe."_

No. It was definitely not the time to be freaking out over something that had happened six years ago.

Ginny looked Riddle full in the eye and gave him her best smile.

"I don't see why I should be. As long as I promise to keep your secret to myself, you have no reason to hurt me."

"Why should I believe that you will keep my secret?" challenged Riddle.

"Because I'm not stupid," Ginny replied. "No one would believe that _you _could be anything other than perfect. Telling someone would be pointless, and you'd probably kill me for it, so..."

She took a big bite of lasagna and chewed slowly while she watched the Head Boy mull over her response in his head.

"Very well," said Riddle finally, and Ginny's shoulders sunk with relief. "You took this better than I had expected, and I hope for your sake that you remain silent on the matter from this time forward."

"Actually," Ginny said, taking a moment to gather her courage, "I was kind of hoping for an explanation."

Riddle shook his head, but at least he didn't look angry.

"No. Only members of my 'group' are allowed to know the details, and despite your flawless handling of this situation, I know enough of your character to realize that your ever joining is a virtual impossibility. I can see that you disapprove of my behavior, and there isn't a doubt in my mind that your impassiveness towards the situation as a whole is the direct result of your self-preservation instinct."

Ginny couldn't really argue with that, seeing as it was more or less true. She'd still have to convince him to tell her about the Death Eaters some time or another, but continuing to press him about it would be pushing her luck.

"Alright," she said, "I can understand that. But we're good? At least in the sense that you won't burn my face off?"

He gave her a condescending smile and said, "Yes, we are. At least until you give away my secret."

"Which will never happen," she assured him emphatically.

"I will hold you to that," Riddle said. He stood up. "Good-bye, Peverell."

"Bye Riddle," Ginny said, but the Head Boy was already halfway through the portrait hole.

The moment he was completely gone, Ginny sunk into her chair and took several gasping breaths.

She'd done it, had nailed the conversation, but oh, gosh, she was terrified. Talking with him was like walking on a tightrope. Even though she'd made it across this time, she was still shaking from the effort. And next time... next time maybe she would say the wrong thing and not make it across at all.

Not able to finish her meal, Ginny pushed the plate away from her and started to get up. Then she realized that getting up meant going back to the common room, and going back to the common room meant seeing Riddle. Even though the Head Girl wasn't delusional enough to think that she was done dealing with him by any means, she also needed a small break from the Heir of Slytherin.

With that in mind, Ginny stayed where she was, burying her face in her hands and trying not to think. A house elf came to take away the lasagna once it became clear that she wasn't going to finish it, but that was about all that happened for a very long time.

Then the portrait squeaked open.

Ginny leapt to her feet, forcing her face back into the calm mask she'd worn before, sure that Riddle was back.

Instead, a head of platinum blond hair made its way into the kitchens. Ginny's mask came tumbling away as she watched Abraxas Malfoy step closer to her, his face twisted in obvious discomfort.

"W-what are you doing here?" Ginny asked nervously, swallowing as his dazzling eyes locked on her face. Malfoy seemed to study her expression for a long time, then shook his head.

"You're fine," Malfoy said dully. "Mulciber didn't think you would be. He wouldn't shut up until I came down here to make sure you were okay."

Ginny's head jerked up.

Bryce Mulciber was worried about her. Abraxas Malfoy had risked looking like hell in public to make sure she was okay. Two Slytherins, two people who shouldn't have given a crap, had gone out of their way for her…

A warm fuzzy feeling settled into the pit of Ginny's stomach.

"I-I'm fine," she said, forcing herself to stand up. "I was just getting ready to go."

Malfoy shook his head and blew a strand of his hair out of his eyes exasperatedly.

"I figured you would be, but I swore that Mulciber thought Riddle was going to kill you. Like Saint Tommy would ever do anything wrong." Then his face turned serious, and he stepped closer to her, putting his good hand gently on her arm. "Then again, Riddle looked mad when you left the hospital wing. I don't give a damn, but maybe you should stay with your Mudbl- Muggleborn friend, tonight."

He was talking about Erin. Ginny wanted to tell him off for almost calling her a Mudblood, or wanted to ask Malfoy why he was even here if he didn't give a damn, but instead she marveled at the way that his cool touch was making her stomach do funny little flips.

"Peverell?" he asked, pulling his arm away from her.

"Er, right," Ginny said. "I- I think I'll do that. I'll go talk to Erin right now. Will you be okay for our patrols tomorrow, or should I ask Erin to go with me?"

Malfoy shrugged. "Lucas said I'd be fine by after a good night's sleep. My arm hurts like hell, but I don't think it's supposed to last much longer. I'll probably be there."

"Okay," Ginny nodded, already backing out of the kitchens. "Thanks for coming, and tell Mulciber that I appreciate his concern, and… I'll visit him tomorrow."

"Alright," Malfoy yawned unconcernedly. "See you then."

"Yeah. See you."

Then Ginny darted out of the room, very eager to slam her head into a wall, or maybe fall down a flight of stairs.

She still felt shaky after her conversation with Riddle, but she was more worried about her reaction to the little chat she'd had with Malfoy. Despite everything, she was almost _eager _for her patrol the next day.

And that was definitely not a good thing.


	8. Strange, but True

After Ginny snuck up to the Head dorms to grab a change of clothes and feed Charlie, she darted back out of the common room without Riddle's notice. She had thought about Malfoy's suggestion on the trip back to the dorms and eventually decided that he was right. It _would_ be good for her to get away from the Head Boy for a night.

With slight trepidation, Ginny made the trek back to the kitchen corridor, but then stopped. She knew that the Hufflepuff common room was somewhere in the general vicinity of the kitchens, but didn't know exactly where, or how to get in. It was probably written in one of the stacks of books she was supposed to read to help with her Head duties, but she'd been too preoccupied to look.

Oh, well. It wasn't late. Someone had to be coming along soon, and surely they'd let the Head Girl in.

Five minutes passed. Ten. Fifteen.

Then, finally, Mason McCreery rounded the corner. He had a two thick books tucked under one arm, his wand dangling lazily from his other hand. Ginny was surprised to see that the prefect didn't have his robes on, wearing only a pair of black pants and his white uniform shirt with the sleeves pushed up.

Ginny opened her mouth to ask for help, then clamped it shut when she noticed a black mark on the back side of Mason's left arm. Her eyes landed on that spot, her brain already starting to scream 'Death Eater!' over and over again, but Mason followed her gaze and hastily pulled his sleeve down before she could get a good look.

"You want to get into the common room?" Mason asked quickly, like he was trying to take her mind off of something... most likely how close she'd been to discovering he was a Death Eater.

Ginny narrowed her eyes, a hundred percent ready to accuse him, but pulled up short. Mason was a Muggleborn, and a Hufflepuff. She was out of her mind to think that he was a Death Eater.

But what had she seen on the back of his arm?

"Um," said Ginny unsurely.

"It's nothing bad," Mason said, nodding at his arm.

"I wasn't going to say anything," Ginny said lamely.

"You don't always speak with your mouth," Mason replied. Then he wordlessly stepped forward until he reached what looked like nothing more than a stack of barrels. Ginny watched interestedly as he reached out and tapped one of the barrels several times in a strange rhythm.

To Ginny's surprise, the lid of the barrel swung open and revealed a short tunnel.

"Er. What's that?" Ginny asked. Mason gave her a look, clearly asking what she thought it was. "Right. The entrance to the common room."

Mason nodded, and gestured for her to go first. Ginny hesitantly crawled through the opening and into a passageway. After a moment, the ceiling rose and Ginny got to her feet to finish the walk. Eventually she came to a stop in front of a portrait of an apple.

"It doesn't need a password," said Mason, who was right behind her. "Just open it."

Ginny listened to him and swung open the portrait, then stepped into the common room.

Her jaw literally dropped as she took the low-ceilinged, thickly carpeted room. There were bright yellow couches and armchairs scatted in haphazard groups everywhere and it looked like everyone in the house was there, all laughing or smiling, even if they were doing homework. The place made Gryffindor tower look like a jail cell, with all of the board games, arm wrestling matches, and joking-around going on.

It was… strange. For the first time, Ginny realized why Hufflepuffs acted as cheery as they did. It wasn't because a bunch of overly happy people were Sorted into the house, but because the house itself _made_ people happy. After seventeen years with a huge, smothering family, then having that yanked away by war, Ginny fell in love with the atmosphere instantly.

"This is amazing," she breathed.

Mason smiled sadly, and she started to ask him what was wrong, but Allison caught sight of her and ran over, dodging various plants and flowers to get through the cramped room.

"Ginny!" the blonde said happily. "I was wondering when you were going to come down here. It's brilliant, isn't it? Oh, and you bought a bag. Are you going to sleep here tonight?"

Mason slunk off as soon as Allison spoke, darting into one of the numerous tunnels that branched off from the common room. Ginny wondered what he was in such a hurry about, but ignored his odd behavior and said, "I was just going to sleep on a couch or something."

"Nonsense," Allison said. "Our beds are big enough for two. You can share with Virginia since she's so little. Do you know that we call her Ginny, too? I think that you were partnered with her in Transfiguration the other day. If not, you should know her from meals. Actually, speaking of meals, where were you at supper tonight?"

Ginny waited for a second, thinking that Allison would keep plowing forward, but her stream of chatter stopped in want of a reply. Figuring that some sort of rumor would get around eventually, the Head Girl went with a half-truth.

"You know Mulciber?" she asked. Allison nodded. "Well, I found him a little ways outside the Head's common room. He was hit with a dark magic curse, and I had to take him to the hospital wing."

"Ew," said Allison, eyes widening in genuine sympathy. "I would have freaked out. Wow. I've never felt sorry for Mulciber before, but that had to have hurt. But, um, was moving him really that hard, or were you doing something else afterwards?"

Ginny didn't think Riddle would really want anyone to know about their little chat in the kitchen, so, stupidly, she said, "Malfoy was staying in the hospital wing, and I talked with him for a while."

A knowing grin crossed Allison's face and instantly Ginny realized that she'd said the worst thing possible. "So you've decided you like his company, have you?"

"One more word, and I will take points," warned Ginny, feeling her face start to heat up.

"You didn't deny it," the other girl grinned. "And you're blushing. So…"

"Allison," she said, struggling to remain calm. "I have been here for six days. Six. As in not even a week. It's too early to fancy anyone."

"No it's not. All you have to do to start fancying Abraxas Malfoy is look at his dreamy eyes, and that doesn't take very long at all," said Allison. "So that's no excuse. And if he's actually talking with you, that's even better. I'd say that you'll be happily together by the end of Sept-"

"And I'm done with this conversation. I have homework to do, so, good-bye," interrupted Ginny.

Then she tromped off down the same hallway that Mason had, figuring that he'd be a good homework buddy. Plus, he'd probably scare of Allison, which was an added bonus.

After knocking on several random doors in search of the seventh year boy's dorms, Ginny finally found the room that she was looking for at the very end of the corridor. Mason even answered the door himself.

"Are you busy?" Ginny asked, trying to sound polite.

Mason looked vaguely confused, but shrugged and said, "Doing homework."

"Great. That's exactly what I want to do. Can I come in?"

"Ginny! I was teasing. Come on, now!" Allison called, sounding a lot like she was giving chase. Mason leaned forward to try to find the source of the voice, but Ginny jumped in front of him and jutted out her lower lip.

"Mason," she begged. "Please. I love Allison, but I'm in the mood for peace and quiet."

So Mason stepped aside, and Ginny quickly slipped into his room.

The first thing she noticed was that it was filthy. There were five separate beds; four of them surrounded by clothing, books, papers... virtually everything. Then, in one corner, was a perfectly made bed. Absolutely nothing was on the floor anywhere near it, and the only personal touch was a single black and white Muggle photograph sitting on top of the bedside table.

Ginny immediately knew that the bed was Mason's. Moseying slowly over to it, her eyes glossed over the area before settling on the photograph.

It was of a young couple on their wedding day. The woman was stunningly beautiful, with thick blonde hair and the same brown eyes as Mason, but it was the man who drew Ginny's attention. He wasn't very handsome. His nose had clearly been broken a couple of times, he was kind of gangly, and his dark hair was flying off in every direction, but the smile on his face was the happiest she had ever seen. So full of hope and life. It made her grin, just looking at it.

"Are those your parents?" Ginny asked, looking back over her shoulder to see that Mason was sprawled out across his bed with his nose buried in a potion's book. He nodded absentmindedly, already focused on his work. Ginny plopped down a few feet away from him and said, "Well, I like your dad's smile. It's beautiful."

When Mason didn't answer, she released her breath in a huff and decided to take out her own potion's book.

Ginny spent the rest of the night silently doing homework with Mason until the other boys noisily stormed in, more or less chasing her off with their noise and teasing. The Head Girl hastily said her good-nights before fleeing the room and beginning her search for the seventh year girl's dorms.

After ambling through several hallways, Ginny finally stumbled upon the door that said _Seventh Year Girls. _Cautiously she opened it and stepped inside. Four pairs of inquisitive eyes were on her instantly.

"You were alone, willingly, with Mason McCreery?" Virginia Thompson blurted. Ginny couldn't bring herself think of the tiny mocha-skinned girl as Ginny. It was way too confusing.

"He's not so bad," she defended herself. "It was quiet, at least."

That got a laugh out of the other girls, and after assuring them that Mason really wasn't very weird at all, Ginny managed to duck into the bathroom to clean up. Once she was finished, she slipped into the open half of Virginia's bed and fell asleep nearly instantly.

…

First thing the next morning, Ginny headed to the hospital wing to visit Mulciber. She wasn't quite sure how the Slytherin would react to her presence, but it was only polite to see how he was doing, especially when he'd worried about her so much the night before.

When she got into the hospital wing, the first thing that Ginny noticed was that Mulciber was no longer in his bed. She turned to see if he'd been moved, but, unfortunately, her eyes settled on Abraxas Malfoy first.

The blond Slytherin was sitting up in bed with his shirt off, looking like he was about ready to hex Madam Lucas, who was poking and prodding his right arm.

Ginny stared. She couldn't help it. Draco Malfoy's _grandfather _had a stare-worthy body. He _obviously _played Quidditch… there was no other way that he'd have such broad shoulders and beautifully toned arms… and Merlin, his abs looked like they belonged on a statue of a Greek _god_.

"Enjoying the view, Peverell?"

_Oh, shit. _Her face turning deep red, Ginny quickly looked towards Madam Lucas, and, ignoring Malfoy, asked, "Where'd Mulciber go?"

Madam Lucas gave Malfoy's arm one good poke, earning herself a fierce glare, then turned to Ginny and said, "He was moved to Saint Mungo's only a few hours ago. It was the best chance to prevent scarring. If all goes well, he should be back by the end of the week. It was nice of you to visit him, though."

Ginny sighed, but forced a smile. At least Mulciber was going to be okay.

"Okay," she said resignedly. "Thank you." Then, making sure not to look at Malfoy, she quickly left the room.

…

Unfortunately for Ginny, she wasn't able to avoid Malfoy for very long. After a day of homework and two meals of squealing from Allison and light-hearted teasing from Erin, it was time for her patrol with the stupid blond-haired Slytherin.

She was dreading it. Really. Because even though Malfoy was good-looking, he'd never done anything to show her that he was a better person than Draco. Well, except when he didn't freak out over his injury, or when he acted human when he saw how badly hurt Mulciber was, and then again... he _did _visit her.

But he was still infuriating.

Said infuriating blond was leaning against the door of the Great Hall when Ginny arrived at exactly eleven o'clock. His eyes fixed on her while she approached, a small smirk stretched across his lips. The Head Girl groaned, sensing that she was in for a long night.

"What?" asked Malfoy, standing up straighter and ambling over to her. "Disappointed that I decided to put my robes on?"

"I was not checking you out this morning," lied Ginny stubbornly. "I was seeing how your arm was. Next time, I'm not even going to bother."

The Slytherin laughed as he began sauntering down the hallway. Ginny fell into step next to him, keeping her face arranged into an angry glare. "How strange. Somehow I didn't realize that I had an arm growing out of my stomach, Peverell."

_Arsehole. _

The redhead ignored him and continued walking along, her arms crossed over her chest, eyes resolutely kept forward. Ginny refused to speak to him if he was only going to embarrass her.

The two of them walked on silently for the next few minutes, but Ginny quickly grew tired of not saying anything. Figuring that Abraxas wouldn't be completely opposed to conversation, the Hufflepuff asked the first question that came to mind.

"When I brought Mulciber in last night, how'd you know so much about the burn on his face?" she asked.

Malfoy seemed surprised that she'd spoken to him so genially, and even Ginny was startled by the friendly tone of the question.

"My uncle works on the dragon reserve in Romania. I visit him for a few weeks every summer, and it's common knowledge there," Malfoy said slowly, like he wasn't sure if Ginny actually wanted him to answer.

Malfoy's careful eyes would've made her smile if his actual words hadn't made her so sick.

Charlie.

Merlin, he had loved his job so much. Whenever he came home, Ginny would pull him aside so that they could talk about dragons and how much he wished the family could afford to send her down so she could see them, too

Now, if Ginny failed to do what not even Dumbledore had accomplished, she would never be able to go with Charlie and see the dragons. Never hear his deep, low chuckle. Never feel his comforting arms around her when she had nightmares, or hear him tell a joke to make her feel better when she was sad.

"Peverell?" Malfoy asked, hesitantly, almost.

Ginny realized that she'd been quiet for a long time, and, taking a deep breath, she forced a smile and said, "It's nothing. I'm fine."

For a second she thought Malfoy would drop it. It looked like _he _thought he was going to drop it. But then, as he started to abruptly look away, his eyes caught on hers.

He ran a hand through his silky hair, and, looking like he was about to jump off a cliff, said, "No, you aren't. You're almost crying."

To her extreme embarrassment, the Hufflepuff realized that Malfoy was right. She hurriedly wiped her eyes and turned away from the blond, not wanting anyone to see her tears, especially not a _Malfoy_.

Once she was sure of her ability to speak, Ginny muttered, "I'm not about to cry."

Then she waited for him to scoff, to laugh, to make fun of her, because that was just what Slytherins did. It didn't matter that he wasn't as big of an arse as Draco.

He did laugh, too, but it wasn't vindictive like she'd expected. It was sad and halfhearted.

"You're not fooling anyone," Malfoy said, and there was something in his voice that gave Ginny the courage to look at him. His eyes were focused straight ahead, though, and his face was completely emotionless. "Something I said upset you."

Even though he didn't actually ask, Ginny knew that Malfoy wanted to know what it was. And, for whatever stupid reason, she wanted to tell him. So she did.

"One of my older brothers worked with dragons," Ginny said softly. "My favorite one, Charlie. We could tell each other anything, and he was my best friend, but then…Then the dark lord killed him."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Oh."

They kept going, but didn't run into anybody. It was past eleven o'clock at night, and no one was going to do anything funny when Abraxas Malfoy was out on patrols. Ginny was embarrassed, unsure, and still feeling hollow from her memories of Charlie, so she was glad that she didn't need to go out of her way to scold anyone.

An hour later, they had patrolled the entire castle, and Malfoy silently led her to the portrait of the little girl. They hadn't said a word, but that was fine. Like Mason said, a person doesn't always speak with their mouth, and Malfoy's silence had said volumes, at least to her.

"See you in class tomorrow," Malfoy said, hovering a few feet away from her.

"Yeah," Ginny said. "See you, Malfoy."

She started forward, but a warm hand on her elbow stopped her. She froze, and Malfoy said, "And Peverell?"

"Yeah?"

For a moment, it felt like he was going to say something real, to comfort her, to make her feel better. Instead, after a short silence, he softly added, "Don't forget to feed Charlie."

Then he turned and hastily walked away.


	9. A House Divided

Riddle quit walking Ginny to breakfast. He stopped speaking to her when not necessary. When they were alone in the common room, he acted like she didn't exist. There was no reason for him to. Keeping up appearances around her had become a waste of time.

That wasn't a good thing, as much as Ginny hated to admit it. She had to speak with Riddle to get him to trust her.

This was why the Head Girl found herself trailing the Head Boy on the way to potions later that week. If he wasn't going to talk to her in private, then she'd force him to have a conversation while they were in public.

"You've been ignoring me, Riddle," Ginny said discreetly, falling into step next to him. She had to have surprised him, but the Heir of Slytherin didn't blink as those steely gray eyes of his settled on her.

"And that upsets you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. So even he knew how deplorable he was. Good. The first step to improvement was recognizing the problem.

"Yes," Ginny said, giving him her best Hufflepuff smile. Dealing with Riddle was a lot easier when the hallways were teeming with witnesses. "It does. I don't think that _I _did anything wrong, so you have no reason to avoid me."

Riddle pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. Apparently Ginny was giving him a headache.

"No, you did nothing wrong," Riddle said easily. "However, we have nothing in common. If I did decide to spend time with you, it would be boring for the both of us."

"I don't think you could ever be boring, Riddle," Ginny said honestly. "Besides, we've got loads in common. Er. Our parents are dead. We share an extreme dislike for Cassiopeia Black. We're both Heads-"

"And how would any of those things relate to us spending time together, may I ask?" Riddle questioned with a pleasant smile, no doubt for the benefit of the other students walking past. To any of them, it would appear that the two Heads were doing nothing more than having a good-natured argument.

"Well," said Ginny, biting her lip as she tried to think up an excuse. "The Cassiopeia thing might give us some entertainment. We could come up with different ways to torture her, then test them out at the next prefect meeting."

There. That would be interesting to him. Of course, Riddle knew she was joking, Ginny could see that by the amused twist of his lips, but at least it got him to stop looking at her like she was an annoying fly that wouldn't go away.

"As tempted as I am to take you up on that offer," Riddle started dryly, "I am resolutely against violence. Cassiopeia is rather ignorant, but she does not deserve to be harmed for it."

Ginny couldn't help but laugh at that. Riddle gave her a warning look, but that only made her laugh harder.

A few moments later, they turned into the potion's classroom. Ginny waited for Riddle to pick his seat, then plopped down right beside him.

"What are you doing?" the Head Boy asked, narrowing his eyes dangerously.

"You know how Mulciber is at Saint Mungo's now?" Ginny grinned. Riddle nodded stiffly. "Well, I thought that maybe you could use some company in his absence, since none of your other 'friends' are in this class."

"Oh," Riddle said through gritted teeth. "How very _kind _of you." Then, with one last death glare, he turned away from Ginny and resolutely ignored her existence.

Slughorn soon arrived and, after a short introduction, started droning on about properties of polyjuice potion. Ginny was almost shaking with barely-concealed glee at the prospect of brewing that specific potion with Riddle. It had been super-common during the war, and she'd learned how to do it perfectly. Not only that, but it'd take at least a month to brew properly, and if Slughorn told them to partner up, that'd be loads of time to work with the Head Boy.

She fidgeted impatiently as the enormous teacher continued on, and on, and on, and then finally concluded with, "You will finish the first two steps of this potion in class today, and we will continue working on it for the next five weeks. Because it is such a difficult potion, I will allow you to work with the other person at your desk. You may begin."

_Bwahahahaha. Perfect. _

"Don't trouble yourself over getting ingredients, Riddle," Ginny said happily as she dug through her potion's kit. "I've got them all right here."

The Head Boy didn't say anything, but it looked an awful lot like he was ready to start banging his head on his desk. Ginny blissfully ignored him and started dropping lacewing flies into her cauldron. With venom in his eyes, Riddle angrily snatched a silver knife out of his bag and began unsucculating the leeches.

At first Ginny kept to herself, focusing on stewing the flies rather than watching the Head Boy, but then she found herself shocked to notice that Tom Riddle was making a mistake. An enormous smile crept across her face.

"You're cutting too much off," Ginny said, using her most Hermionesque tone. She grabbed the end of a slimy little leech and pulled it away from his dagger. "You don't decapitate it, you unsucculate it. So cut off its sucker, not its head."

"They're the same thing," Riddle said coldly. There was a vein in his forehead that was starting to turn purple. Ginny shook her head, biting her tongue to keep from laughing.

"No. They aren't." She poked the tiny seam that joined the sucker to the rest of the leech's body. "That's where you cut. It'll make a u-shape." Then she sliced off the slimy little sucker and held the leech up to show Riddle. "See?"

"I don't think that it makes a difference."

"Yes, it does," Ginny insisted. "If you cut off too much of the leech, the potion isn't properly balanced, and it won't change your voice correctly. You need to cut the leeches _perfectly_."

Someone started clapping from behind her, and when Ginny whirled around, instinctively raising her dagger as a weapon, she saw that Slughorn was standing a short ways away from them, watching their discussion with intense interest.

"Very, very good, Miss Peverell," he said approvingly. "I do believe that is the first time I have ever heard someone beat Tom in an argument." Ginny covered her mouth to hide her smug smile, but she couldn't help the little laugh that bubbled out of her throat when Slughorn asked, "Aren't you lucky to have such an exceptionally intelligent partner, Tom?"

"Oh, of course," seethed Riddle, his attention suddenly focused on slicing the leeches the right way. Slughorn waddled away, and Riddle, his movements jerky with anger, missed his leech and sliced open his finger instead. Ginny wordlessly healed it, getting a lot more pleasure than she should have out of his faltering smile.

Class was dismissed a few moments later, and Riddle got up immediately, not bothering to help her clean up. Ginny didn't care. She had managed to get a pretty good hit on Lord Voldemort's ego, and that made any moodiness on his part totally worth it.

The Head Girl was just putting her remaining lacewing flies back into a little plastic bag when Slughorn teetered over to her table.

"Miss Peverell, do you mind if I speak with you for a moment?"

"Nope, go ahead," Ginny said unthinkingly. She tossed the bag of lacewing flies into her potions kit and clamped it shut.

"Your performance in this class has been excellent so far this year. You're a natural potion's mistress, and your sheer cheek is positively endearing. Therefore, I think it only appropriate to invite you to the kickoff party for the Slug Club this Friday night."

_Oh, crap. Totally forgot about that. _

"I don't know. Being Head Girl involves lots of studying, you know-"

"Nonsense! You need to have some fun. Er, Mitchum, come tell her how fun the parties are."

Ginny turned around to see Mason McCreery freeze in the process of throwing away leech suckers, a deer-in-the-headlights look on his face. There was a long silence, and she could tell he was going by his whole 'don't speak unless you have something to say' rule. Slughorn continued to watch him, obviously too thick to see the prefect's reluctance to speak.

"Er, his name's Mason," Ginny said, doing her best to break the awkward silence. "Oh, he knows who I'm talking about," the whale of a professor said dismissively,

then continued to wait for Mason's answer.

Once it became obvious that they weren't going to leave until he spoke, the brown-haired Hufflepuff finally cracked.

"They're fun," Mason said sarcastically, eyes focused on his hands.

"See? And Manson will be there with you, so you'll have another housemate. Come on, Ginevra," Slughorn prodded, blissfully unaware of Mason's sarcasm.

Ginny had a feeling that she wasn't going to get out of the stupid party, so she shrugged helplessly and muttered, "Okay, fine. I'll be there."

Then she tossed the rest of her things into her bag, and she and Mason left the classroom together, walking somewhat quickly to get away from Slughorn. Once they were out of hearing distance, she asked, "I just got dragged into something awful, didn't I?"

Mason nodded, then said, "It's basically an excuse for Slughorn to get drunk. Everyone else just sits around and listens to the Slytherin factions argue."

Ginny normally would have gaped at the full sentence that came out of his mouth, but something that he said captured her attention instead.

"Slytherin factions?" Ginny asked. "What do you mean?"

Mason ran a hand through his wild hair and sighed.

"Powerful Slytherins have always been from old pureblood families. Everyone else in the house was treated like trash," Mason explained. For the first time, Ginny noticed that he had a light accent. German, maybe. He'd never spoken enough for her to notice it before. "When Riddle came, things changed. The old pureblood families shunned him, but everyone else kind of… treated him like a prophet." Mason paused a moment, then finished, "Now Riddle and his people make up one part of the house, and Orion Black and everyone who followed him make up the other."

"And these two… _factions_, they don't like each other?" asked Ginny, even though she knew the answer.

"No," confirmed Mason. "They don't."

They continued on in silence for a moment as the Head Girl spun Mason's words around in her head. That explained the division between Riddle and Avery and the rest of Slytherin's prefects. It was strange to think about, especially because Ginny had always seen Slytherin as one of the most united houses, but Mason's words definitely made sense.

As for Friday, well… the party would be interesting. That was for sure.


	10. Like No One Is Watching

It was raining buckets outside that Friday. Ginny hesitated in front of the main doors, not sure whether or not she should go to Care of Magical Creatures. There was no way that they could have class out there, but Kettleburn hadn't said that it was cancelled. Knowing him, they did have it, but it was pouring…

"Scared of a little rain, Peverell?"

Ginny whirled around to see Abraxas Malfoy standing behind her, looking rather amused. Charlie, who'd been sleeping in her arms, opened his big brown eyes and started fighting to get to him.

With a glare in the direction of the traitorous puffskein, Ginny handed it over to Malfoy and muttered, "So we do have class today. I was hoping differently."

The Slytherin shot her a disarming smirkle.

"Kettleburn doesn't cancel class. Although, if the rain is too much for you, you could always pretend to be sick."

He was challenging her, and even though Ginny was more than tempted to fake sick, she knew that she couldn't back down from a challenge. Especially not when said challenge came from a Malfoy.

"No. I'm fine," Ginny said, and the two of them started out of the castle together. The rain was harder than she thought, thick enough that it was difficult to see where she was going. There were several times when she almost fell into one of the huge mud puddles that were already scattered across the grounds, but she always managed to catch herself just in time.

Malfoy didn't seem to be having half as much trouble. At least he wasn't slipping every three seconds like she seemed to be… But then he got cocky and started walking faster. Ginny had just opened her mouth to ask him to slow down when he lost his footing. For a second, it looked like he was going to regain his balance, but then Charlie jumped out of his arms, and the Slytherin fell backwards in surprise. Straight into a deep mud puddle.

He let loose a long stream of curse words, and Ginny started laughing so hard that she could hardly breathe. It was just so funny, the great Abraxas Malfoy sitting in a mud puddle, soaking wet, with dirty water splattered across his face.

"It's not funny when it happens to you," he said indignantly, trying and failing to look really mad.

"But it didn't happen to me, so-" Ginny started, then bit off her words when he grabbed her hand and pulled her down with him. She opened her mouth to scream, but Malfoy dropped a handful of gooey mud on top of her head before she got the chance.

"Is it funny now?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. She tried to speak several times, but was too angry for words.

Oh... he was in _so much trouble_.

"No," Ginny finally sputtered. "But this is."

Then she took a handful of her own mud and smeared it in his face. He disgustedly spat out a mouthful of dirt, and his eyes hardened to the point that she was worried he was genuinely mad. At least until she felt an icy cold hand pull her robes away from her neck, then drop a glob of mushy mud down the front of her shirt.

"And so is that," he said, his blue eyes glowing through the rain.

"You are so going to regret-" she started, but she was cut off by an evil-sounding chuckle. Uh-oh. She knew that laugh. Kettleburn.

The redhead looked up immediately, blushing when she saw the grizzly professor hobble over to them, holding Charlie loosely in his arms.

"Can I ask why the two of you are not in class?" he asked lowly.

"Er. We tripped and fell," Ginny said hastily. "We were just going to-"

"Leave. We are having class in Hagrid's hut, and you aint going to go mucking it up. I want an essay on your puffskein's behavioral habits by Monday, Miss Peverell. And twenty points from both of yer houses."

Then he dropped Charlie into Malfoy's arms before limping off. Ginny swallowed and tossed a nervous glance in Malfoy's direction, sure that he'd be steaming. Instead, he was smirking. The prat was having _fun! _Stupid arse.

"What are you so happy about?" Ginny grumbled. Malfoy carefully pushed himself to his feet, not taking his shining eyes off of her as he did so.

"Making you angry is worth losing twenty points over," he said. He held out a hand to help her up with. "Easily."

Ginny stared at his hand for a moment, then shook her head, choosing to get up herself.

"You're insufferable," she muttered, already starting to walk away from him. The stupid Slytherin wouldn't leave her alone, though. Within seconds, she felt him fall into step next to her.

"Thanks for the compliment, Peverell. I never knew you were so sweet."

He was being sarcastic, but in a friendly, teasing kind of way. The thought made her want to smile, but that would be letting him off easy. No way was she going to be friendly to him after he got her so filthy.

She kept walking and ignored him.

"I see. So that's how it's going to be. You know, Helga Hufflepuff would be pretty pissed at you right now. You're not being cheerful."

"I'd be more cheerful if you jumped off a cliff."

His deep, smooth chuckle rang out from behind her, and when Ginny turned to look at him, he was a heck of a lot closer than she'd expected. Merlin, he was beautiful, even with mud smeared all over his face and soggy hair hanging in his eyes.

"Jump off a cliff? I'm assuming that you mean with you, into an ocean, with very little clothing on." Ginny opened her mouth to tell him off, but he held up his hands, his smirk getting even bigger. "Don't deny it, Peverell. I can see it in your eyes."

Then Ginny blushed because something along those lines no doubt _was _written in her eyes. Annoyed at how much Malfoy affected her, Ginny stomped on his foot, said, "I'm not even dignifying that with a comment", then tromped off into the castle.

…

That night, Ginny headed down to the Hufflepuff common room to wait for Mason. He hadn't asked her to, but there was no way she was going straight into the snake's den without any backup.

The prefect wasn't quite ready when Ginny arrived, so she settled into a comfy chair across from Allison and listened to her friend talk about her older brother's evil wife.

"She is such a b-_witch_," she complained. "I mean, I couldn't even be a bridesmaid at the wedding. She said I would get too into it. Really? I don't get _too into _stuff."

"Er, maybe, kinda," coughed Ginny, really quickly. Allison glared at her and put a hand on her hip, suddenly turning rather frightening.

"Like _what_?"

"This conversation."

"Doesn't count."

"Your crushes. Riddle-" Allison shook her head furiously.

"Everyone has a crush on him. That doesn't count." Ginny opened her mouth, but Allison quickly said, "And no Malfoy either. You two clearly have a thing, so he's off limits."

"But- Hey! Malfoy and I do not have a _thing_," said Ginny sternly, even though her bright red cheeks told something completely different. But they didn't have a thing. She just had a tiny, practically non-existent, unimportant crush on him. It was absolutely nothing.

"Of course you don't," Allison said dismissively.

"You're making a big deal out of this, too."

The blonde opened her mouth to protest, then shut it again and quickly looked anywhere but forward. Ginny turned around confusedly, furrowing her brow when she saw Mason standing behind her.

Right. Allison was frightened of Mason. Whatever. She had a Head Boy to impress.

Allison's strange aversion to her friend could wait until later.

"Sorry. I gotta go," Ginny said hurriedly. "I'll come down here tomorrow to do homework or something before my patrol. See you, then."

"Yeah, see ya," Allison muttered, but she didn't seem into it. Ginny gave her a concerned look, but the other Hufflepuff was too busy studying her nails to notice. The Head Girl shook off her concern and hopped out of her seat.

"Hey, Mason," Ginny greeted as she joined him. "Ready?"

Mason looked almost as distracted as Allison, but he forced a smile and nodded.

"Good," Ginny said, and the two of them headed out of the common room. Ginny tried to start a conversation, but soon figured out that it was completely useless. Mason McCreery didn't do small talk. The rest of the walk passed in silence.

Slughorn's giant office was nearly empty when the two Hufflepuffs arrived, with only a few Slytherins scattered randomly around the room. Riddle was there, though, staring at something intently… Ginny followed his gaze, grinning when she saw a head of brown hair talking to Tyler Avery.

Bryce Mulciber was back, and even though some of the skin on his face was still red and puckered, it wasn't half as noticeable as before. Probably feeling her eyes on him, he looked up and met her gaze, then nodded almost imperceptibly before returning to his conversation.

"Oh, I'm so glad that he's-" she started, but Slughorn's booming voice cut her off.

"Orion! It is nice to see you here tonight. I was wondering if you were going to come." Ginny turned to see the potion's professor greeting what she guessed to be the majority of the rich half of Slytherin. Orion and Walburga Black entered first, holding hands. Abraxas Malfoy and Cygnus Black were next. Then Cassiopeia, followed by another half dozen well-dressed Slytherins.

Ginny was extremely tempted to talk to Malfoy, but was scared enough by the fact that she _wanted _to talk to him that she ran over to Riddle instead. His eyes narrowed when he saw her, but his polite mask didn't crack a bit.

"Hello, Riddle," Ginny said cheerfully, leaning against the wall beside him. He stiffened but did not move away. "You look lonely."

"More like peaceful," he muttered under his breath.

_Ah, such a joy, Tom Riddle is_.

"Well, you shouldn't be peaceful here," Ginny argued. "It's a party. You're supposed to talk and have fun. To dance. Come on, Riddle. Live a little. You should come dance with me."

_Did I just ask the freaking Dark Lord to dance? _

She took in the incredulous look on his face and internally nodded.

_Why, yes. Yes, I did. _

Dumbledore would owe her when she got back to the future. Owe her big. She was really going above and beyond in this whole mission thing.

As she expected, Riddle sneered at her and said, "No."

Ginny was tempted to leave it at that, but she knew that there was a pretty good friend-making opportunity right in front of her, and it would be stupid to pass it up, so she pulled a stunt that any Slytherin would be proud of.

"Actually," she said, sounding a hell of a lot braver than she felt, "If you don't accept my invitation now, I will ask you loudly enough for everyone to hear. Then you will have to accept for fear of harming your delightful little image if you do not."

Oh, if looks could kill, Ginny was pretty sure that she would be dead at that moment. As it was, Tom Riddle had a reputation to keep up, and she knew that as well as he did. After closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, the Head Boy nodded tersely.

"Very well, Peverell. If it means _that _much to you," he said bitingly, standing up and leading her out to the middle of the room, where several Gryffindors and a Ravenclaw couple were trying to dance to Slughorn's terrible jazz music.

How did one dance to jazz?

Ginny had no idea, and it didn't look like the Dark Lord was any better off, so she awkwardly positioned her hands on his back and fidgeted, waiting for him to do something. He gave her a glare that said he thought she was a complete moron.

"Why in the hell did you want to dance, if you have no idea how?" he hissed under his breath.

"I wanted to gaze soulfully into your eyes," Ginny shot back sarcastically, hoping it would make him stop asking questions. Thankfully, it worked. The two of them fell into an unsettling silence as they swayed back and forth, shuffling their feet clumsily along the floor. Riddle kept his hands hanging at his sides, which made the whole thing even more uncomfortable.

Ginny was starting to realize that maybe dancing to jazz music wasn't the best way to get the Dark Lord to loosen up, when Riddle commented, "People are starting to stare. You should at least make an attempt at conversation."

When Ginny looked, she saw that he was right. Malfoy was burning a hole into her back, Cassiopeia and another Slytherin girl were pointing and whispering, and virtually all of Riddle's cronies were gaping at him in disbelief.

"Right," Ginny said awkwardly, glancing at Malfoy out of the corner of her eye. He didn't think she actually _liked _Riddle, did he?

Riddle raised an eyebrow, obviously waiting for her to say something, so Ginny blurted the first thing that came to mind. "Mulciber looks better, doesn't he?"

"Yes," said Riddle coolly. "He does."

More silence. Ginny kind of felt like she was dancing with a scarecrow, with the way that Riddle was just standing there, moving very, very little.

"Er. I'm trying to think of something to make this less awkward, but I have a feeling that you'd think most of what I say is stupid."

"At least you're smart enough to realize that," Riddle said dryly.

Then the song ended. Ginny took her hands off of Riddle's back and stepped away, doing her best not to scurry back to Mason like a lost little animal.

"Thanks. Even though I forced you into it," she said. Her politeness felt fake to her, but it appeared that Riddle was full of himself enough not to think so. At least he didn't give her any glares or death threats before he stalked away.

Ginny watched him leave, took a deep breath, then took off for where Mason was sitting in a corner, looking rather bored.

"Should I be sorry that I left you?" she asked, plopping down on the floor next to him. He looked at her with his really big, really brown eyes, and shook his head.

"No. But why Riddle?"

As in 'Why would you go out of your way to dance with someone who obviously makes you very miserable?'.

"Because I don't want the Head Boy to hate me," she said with enough conviction that it sounded almost true. Mason shook his head, clearly not believing her, but refrained from asking questions. The two Hufflepuffs fell into silence.

After a few minutes of watching Slughorn chug wine, Slytherins exchanging glares, and Gryffindors and Ravenclaws trying to dance, Abraxas Malfoy said something that evidently made Cassiopeia Black very, very mad, and then started over to where Ginny and Mason were sitting.

Ginny was very annoyed by the fact that his approach made her heart beat a little faster.

"Tell me, Mason," Ginny whispered, "does Malfoy have any terrible secrets I don't know about?"

Mason looked between her and Malfoy and shook his head.

"Not half as many as some Slytherins." Mason's eyes went to Riddle when he said that, and Ginny shivered. Something gave her the impression that Mason knew a lot more than he was supposed to. She wanted to ask him where all his information came from, but Malfoy was in front of them before she had the chance.

"Dance with me?" the blond asked, giving her a stunning smile. Ginny gaped at him.

"This isn't some evil Slytherin plot to amuse your friends, is it?" she asked.

Malfoy didn't look offended by her distrust of him at all.

"With any other Hufflepuff, it would be," the blond said carelessly. "But seeing as you could take a hundred points from Slytherin…"

"You're not that stupid," Ginny beamed, taking his proffered hand and letting him pull her to her feet. Malfoy didn't let go as they walked towards where the others were dancing.

Unlike Riddle, Malfoy didn't act like touching her would burn his hands off, and he actually _smiled_, which Riddle really needed to learn how to do. It was fun too. No awkward shuffling, but a lot of jumping and spinning and moving back and forth. _Swing dancing_, Ginny realized eventually.

By the time that the song was over, Ginny was laughing and smiling and totally in love with the way people danced in the forties. It was even better because Malfoy's warm hand had been settled on her waist nearly the entire time.

"That was fun," said Malfoy breathlessly. "At the balls my father has, we do nothing but slow dance. It was nice to do something different."

Ginny looked at him strangely, and without really thinking about it, found herself saying, "You don't act very much like a rich Slytherin. I mean, with the mud fight, dancing, even just being nice to me... Can I ask why?"

Malfoy smirked at that, moving slightly closer to Ginny so that she could hear his response over the music and chatter. Ginny didn't mind at all. He smelled really good, like rich guy. Leather and spice. It was addicting.

"The rich Slytherins act like they do because they worry about people's opinions. The poor ones follow Riddle. Both options entail being under someone else's influence, which I think is completely stupid."

"So you do whatever you want instead?" Ginny asked, surprised by how surprisingly reasonable his answer was.

"Within reason," said Malfoy. "For example, I have no problem dancing with an interesting Hufflepuff, even if my friends call me an idiot for it. Although… I may want to talk to Cassiopeia Black before she throws a hissy fit. Tomorrow, Peverell?"

Ginny nodded, her stomach erupting in butterflies at the smile he was giving her.

"Yeah," she said, doing her best to keep her voice calm. "Tomorrow."

Then Malfoy walked off to talk down a steaming Cassiopeia, and the party went downhill from there. Cygnus wouldn't stop laughing about Mulciber's 'fucked-up face', Orion and Stefan Warrington were accusing Tyler Avery of blowing up Stefan's cat, and several drunk Gryffindors started singing _God Rest Ye Merry Hippogriff_ extremely off key.

When a cheery, red-faced Slughorn joined in, Mason and Ginny exchanged a look, clearly telling the other that it was time to go. They both quickly ducked out of the room, ending a day that Ginny would consider interesting, at the very least.


	11. War and Peace

"Peverell, I need to talk to you."

Those seven words, though spoken softly, chilled Ginny to the bone. She stopped halfway through the sentence she was writing for her essay and jerked her head toward the door.

Riddle needed to talk to her. This was probably about forcing him to dance with her. He was going to kill her. Hell, she'd probably end up being made into another Horcrux, just like Myrtle and his father. Then her mission would never be completed, and everyone would die, and-

Ginny took a deep breath, picked up her wand. She and Riddle were the same age now, and she'd already lived through an entire war. If anything, _she _should have the upper hand. There was no way she was going to roll over and die. She wouldn't go down without a fight.

Holding her head high, the Head Girl marched over to the door and yanked it open, her wand still out and ready to fire if need be…

Only to be met with the sight of an exasperated-looking Tom Riddle holding a white paper folder in one hand, the other dangling harmlessly at his side. She furrowed her brow at him and discreetly slipped her wand into the pocket of her skirt, thankful when he didn't seem to notice.

"Er. Sure. What do we need to talk about?" Ginny asked nervously. Riddle held up the folder.

"I had previously addressed Dippet in regards to the ideas that were presented for our charity projects this year. He accepted both of them and has given us a list of orphans to assist. We need to pair up the prefects and assign them their children before the meeting on Wednesday."

Ginny almost gaped at him. That hadn't been what she was expecting. In all honesty, she had forgotten about her head duties. Wow. She wasn't going to die after all. What a pleasant surprise.

"Oh, yeah. I'm guessing you probably want to do that now?" she asked.

Riddle raised an eyebrow. "Would I have bothered speaking to you otherwise?"

Ginny shrugged pleasantly, much happier now that she knew he wasn't going to punish her for the whole dancing thing.

"I don't know. Maybe I thought that my sunny personality was growing on you," she said as she followed him down to the stairs and back into the common room. "It should be, you know. Most other Slytherins don't seem to have a problem with me."

The Head Boy regally sat himself down in one of the green armchairs and let his eyes land on her, giving her a rather condescending sneer. "I am not as shallow-minded as others in my house. They believe that because you have a modicum of intelligence, you are worth liking."

And just like that, Ginny's teasing mood completely vanished.

"Really, Riddle. How can you all your housemates shallow when you choose your friends based on how obedient they are?" Ginny asked coldly, letting her annoyance get the best of her. Then, seeing the anger written plainly across Riddle's face, she added, "Not to criticize you or anything, but it's just kind of ironic."

There was a very long silence after that. Riddle was staring at her with hard eyes, clearly thinking about something, even if she had no idea what. Her heart was thudding so loudly that she was almost certain he could hear it.

Then, in a low, hard voice, he said, "I will admit that you have a point, but it would be in your best interest not to push me much further."

"Merlin, Riddle," Ginny said exasperatedly. "You don't have to threaten me. I'm not stupid. You're mad right now, I know what you can do, and I know what I'm doing."

"Do you?" he asked harshly. "I get the impression that you believe I wouldn't hurt you like I did Mulciber."

She clenched her hands into fists and asked, through gritted teeth, "Why would you think that?"

"You follow me, you annoy me, you coerce me into dancing with you! If you knew how dangerous I actually was, you would not be stupid enough to push me so far."

There were about a million things that Ginny wanted to shout at Riddle at that moment, many of which would probably get her killed. She took several deep breaths to calm herself before giving him the most composed answer she could come up with.

"I push you because I think you need it," she said. "Don't worry. I understand perfectly fine that I could wind up like Mulciber if you wanted me to, but… but I think that it's worth the risk. I…. respect you. A lot. You're smart and talented, and a part of me thinks that you might actually be decent if you could make yourself see that other people aren't brainless dogs. So I'm just trying to help you."

She almost wanted to rinse her mouth after that load of crap fell off her tongue, but the look on Riddle's face told her that she'd said exactly the right thing. His eyes were slightly wider than normal, with the rest of his features arranged into an expression of borderline surprise.

Of course, it wasn't three seconds before the Head Boy drained his face of all emotion, and not another two before he collected himself enough to say, "I do not want or need your help. Being 'decent' has never appealed to me. Besides, absolutely nothing you have done so far has proved you anything more than a 'brainless dog'."

"Hasn't it?" she challenged. "I want you to give me two things that make you better than me."

"I'm more intelligent," he said immediately. She raised an eyebrow.

"Really? If I remember right, you can't unsucculate leeches very well. Using dark magic in a school hallway wasn't a genius move either. Nope. That doesn't count."

Ginny settled herself deeper into her chair while she watched a very annoyed Riddle run through possible answers in his head. No doubt he was trying to make sure she didn't shoot down another one. It was a good three minutes before he said, "You care too much about others. Forming attachments is a sign of weakness, which you apparently do not understand."

Ha. That one was easy.

"Only someone who hasn't formed any attachments would say that. If you'd give people a chance, Riddle, you'd know how much stronger they can make you. That idea doesn't count either, since you have no clue what you are talking about."

More teeth gritting, especially because someone as smart as Tom Riddle would know that it was impossible to argue about something that he was obviously clueless on.

"Fine," he said, emphasizing the 'f'. "How about this? You act like a silly child. Is that not a shortcoming?"

"It's called having fun, actually, but since that's another thing you don't know about, I'll be lenient. That'll be one reason. I'm apparently an immature child. Can you think of another?" Ginny asked.

There was another long silence. The old grandfather clock that sat over the fireplace was ticking obnoxiously in the background, and Ginny was tempted to fire a spell at it, just to shut it up. Her eyes continued to flit from Riddle to the old, beat-up clock.

Then the Head Boy sat up straighter, opened the white folder he'd been carrying earlier, and said, "I believe that we have work to do, Peverell."

Ginny almost fell out of her chair in shock, but composed her features quickly. She'd actually won. With a small smirk, Ginny pretended to focus on the pages that Riddle was setting out across the table.

"Of course, Riddle. I'm sorry for taking us so far off track," she said sweetly, then fell silent, knowing that she'd pushed the Dark Lord as far as he could go in one day.

The two Heads worked quietly for the next hour or so, saying almost nothing. That was okay with Ginny, though. The atmosphere in the room had changed, just slightly, and she had a feeling that she'd managed to claw her way over the biggest hill.

Now all that was left was to conquer a host of smaller ones.

…

Ginny was reading in the common room when someone knocked on the portrait. Riddle raised his eyes from his book and glowered at her, like she was the one making the noise. She glowered back, and they had a stare off before Ginny finally cracked and yelled, "Come in!"

Ginny was more than a little surprised when Abraxas Malfoy stepped through the portrait hole.

Riddle took one look at Malfoy, slammed his book shut, and stalked off.

"Well," Malfoy said, completely unconcerned with the Head Boy's exit, "it appears that Riddle does not want to talk with me. Rabid Mudblood."

Ginny froze.

"_What?_"

"Shit, sorry," he apologized. "I'm actually working on not saying that. Even my mother thinks that using that word is a sign of bad breeding, but-"

"No, no, no," Ginny interrupted, although she found herself more than a little charmed at his attempted apology. "It's just… why did you call Riddle a Mudblood? He isn't, is he?" At least Malfoy wasn't supposed to think that he was.

"According to him, he isn't," Malfoy drawled as he sat in the chair that Riddle had just vacated. "But Riddle isn't a pureblood name, never has been. He's lying about it, probably because he knows that all his little friends would ditch him if he didn't."

Ginny realized that Riddle probably wouldn't be happy if he happened to overhear this conversation. As much as she wanted to hear more about Malfoy's perception of the Head Boy, she knew that she was treading on dangerous ground and changed the subject.

"Um. Can I ask you what you're doing here?"

Malfoy shrugged carelessly as his eyes settled on the white paper folder that Dippet had given them. The Slytherin lazily scooped it up and said, "Can't a prefect visit his Head Girl? Maybe I have business to discuss."

"Alright then. What kind of business?" Ginny asked archly. Malfoy acted like she hadn't said a word, instead looking over a page of Riddle's notes. His shockingly blue eyes ran over the Head Boy's neat, pristine writing before switching their focus to her.

"You picked these partners?" he asked.

"Er. Yes?" Ginny said confusedly, wondering what interested him so much. She'd put herself with Mason, which shouldn't have seemed weird at all. Unless... Did Malfoy want her to put the two of them together?

"So you want to spend time with _Mason McCreery_? Really, I thought you'd be smarter than that," said Malfoy, snapping the folder shut and tossing it back onto the coffee table. Her eyes didn't leave him as he leaned back in his chair and rested his feet on the table, posing for her and not even realizing it. "Remember Charlie? Prefect patrols? Dancing? We're partners, _Ginny_. In everything."

Ginny literally swooned. He was the kind of guy that she and Hermione would make up to forget their hopeless infatuations with Harry and Ron. Perfect. Well, with the undeniable flaw of being a snarky Malfoy.

First instinct told Ginny to go ahead and change the names, but she _needed _to figure out what was going on with Mason. Besides, Riddle had already made copies, and she knew that he had at least one on his person. Begging him to rearrange the pairs so that she could be with Malfoy was out of the question.

"As much as I enjoy your scintillating company, the partners are final. Sorry, Malfoy," she said sweetly.

Malfoy sighed exasperatedly and heaved himself out of his chair.

"I suppose that I can forgive you. On two conditions."

"And what would those be?" Ginny asked.

Malfoy gave her a startling grin as he ambled over to where she was sitting. Every step that he took seemed to make breathing more and more difficult.

"First, don't call me Malfoy. My name is Abraxas," he said. "You've been treating me like an actual person instead of a rich plaything, so I think you deserve that privilege."

Ginny nodded slightly. It'd be difficult to get used to, but it wasn't anything too terrible.

"Okay. Call you by your first name. Got it. And the other one?"

His smirk widened until it was a full-fledged smile, the first that she'd seen on a Slytherin. Ever.

"Bring a warm cloak along on our patrol tonight. We're going to take a detour."

He was standing right in front of her by then, only a few feet away, tall and confident. Like he knew there was no chance she was going to say no.

She didn't disappoint.

"Okay, I will, Mal- Abraxas."

"Perfect. I'll see you then," he said. Then he spun on his heel and sauntered off, leaving Ginny staring after him and smiling like a fool.

…

If it had been 1998, Ginny would have taken the time to do her hair and put on extra makeup before her patrol with Abraxas. She would have chattered about it for hours with Hermione and Luna, talking about how excited she was, all the way up until she had to go and meet him.

As it was, Riddle spent most of his time in their common room, and there was no way that Ginny was going to let him see her fussing over a prefect patrol. She tied her hair back into a sloppy ponytail and didn't bother to change out of the same knee-length skirt and over-sized sweater she'd had on all day.

After checking her reflection to make sure that she looked decent, Ginny grabbed her thick velvet cloak and hurried out of her room, planning on quickly finishing her Charms homework before meeting Malfoy in front of the Great Hall.

Just like she expected, Riddle was sitting in the common room. His nose was buried in an old tome that she probably couldn't lift. Knowing him, it was probably about dark magic. It looked like the kind of thing that'd have information about Horcruxes and Inferi in it.

Then again, Ginny supposed that she should be thankful that he was reading about dark magic, rather than practicing it.

After giving the book one more glance, Ginny plopped into her usual yellow chair. A pair of steely eyes focused on her immediately.

With a sigh, the Head Girl returned her gaze to Riddle. The look in his eyes could have killed bunnies.

"Is there something troubling you?" Ginny asked politely.

Unembarrassed at being caught staring, Riddle met her gaze. She didn't look away.

"I was wondering what you could possibly need your cloak for. Don't you have a patrol tonight?"

Ha. So he hadn't heard her conversation with Abraxas. That was one good thing, at least. Then again, now she'd have to think of something to tell Riddle that didn't make it sound like she was neglecting her Head duties. He'd probably crucify her if that was the case.

After a moment, Ginny settled on, "Malfoy and I are going outside _after _our patrols."

"After?" Riddle pressed, looking for confirmation.

"Yes. After." When Riddle still didn't look convinced, Ginny quickly added, "I just got you to think that I'm smart. You don't think that I'd ruin that opinion so quickly, do you?"

The dark-haired Head Boy muttered something under his breath, then said, more loudly, "Smart is an overstatement. I believe that you are not unintelligent. If I hear that you are lying about your patrols tonight, I will not even give you that. Is this understood?"

Ginny nodded vigorously.

"Perfectly, Riddle. And don't worry; I'm not going to do anything too stupid." The hands on the grandfather clock read 6:53, and Ginny knew that she'd be late if she stuck around to argue with the Head Boy any longer. "Don't worry. Your spies will tell you good things. Bye, now," she said cheerfully.

Then, before he could say anything else, Ginny danced out of the room and headed down to the Great Hall. When she got there, Abraxas was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. He wore a thick dragon-hide cloak and had a blanket tossed over his right arm. A breathtaking smile stretched across his lips when he heard her approaching.

Ginny had to bite back a smile of her own, instead choosing to focus on his blanket.

"What's that for?" she asked curiously.

"It's nice to know that a blanket interests you more than I do," Abraxas snorted as he pushed himself off of the wall.

"Okay. Hello, Malfoy. I am very happy to see you. Now, can you tell me what that blanket is for?" Ginny asked sweetly, batting her eyelashes. He seemed very unimpressed.

"I'm afraid that it's a surprise. Then again, if you keep calling me Malfoy, I may never tell you what it is."

"You do realize that it isn't really easy to call you 'Abraxas'?" Ginny asked defensively. "I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but it's kind of a mouthful."

Abraxas chuckled, not offended in the least. His electric eyes glowed with good-humor.

"I'd have to be pretty daft not to realize that," he said as they started walking. "You'll get used to it, though. My other friends have."

"Of course they have," Ginny drawled teasingly. "Honestly, though. Why Abraxas? No one else I know has a name anywhere close to it. Does it mean something special?"

"Do you really want to know?" Abraxas asked. His smile had turned into more of a smirk than before. Ginny nodded anyway, and the Slytherin continued speaking. "My father picked it. It's the name of an evil Egyptian God. Pretty fitting, considering that Lucius, my middle name, comes from the name 'Lucifer.'"

"Oh."

That was nice. Not as surprising as it should have been, though, considering the family he came from. Abraxas laughed at her reaction.

"You wouldn't be so surprised if you knew my father. He's not nearly as subtle as most Slytherins tend to be. If he wants his son to grow up to serve Grindelwald, he'll practically broadcast it to everyone."

"He wants you to serve Grindelwald?" Ginny blurted. She'd gotten so used to pretending that the dark wizard killed her parents over the past couple weeks that even the passing mention of the dark wizard made her angry.

"Don't worry, I won't," Abraxas reassured her, but his voice was hard. "Taking orders, always being second-best. No. Even if Grindelwald isn't far off in some things, I wouldn't follow him to save my life."

"Isn't far off in some things?" Ginny couldn't help but ask, her voice getting slightly smaller.

Abraxas ran a hand through his silvery hair, looking so troubled that Ginny almost felt guilty for interrogating him. _Almost_.

"I'm a Malfoy, Gin. You're a Hufflepuff. We're going to think differently on some things, but I'm also not a savage. I won't kill to get what I want. Can't we agree to disagree?"

Ginny knew he was referring all of the stupid pureblood bigotry that ran in the Malfoy family. It shouldn't have surprised her, especially when she knew that he had a habit of saying 'Mudblood'.

Could she look past it, though? Abraxas obviously wasn't like Draco. If Erin and Mason, who were both Muggleborns, didn't warn Ginny away from him, he couldn't have been too terrible. At least he kept his opinions to himself. Besides, he appeared to be a good person. Just slightly misguided.

Yes, Ginny decided. She could deal with a little bit of racism for Abraxas Malfoy.

"Fine. As long as you keep your thoughts to yourself."

A smile crossed Abraxas's face, and he started walking slightly closer to her, so that his arm brushed against hers.

"Good enough. Now come on, we need to finish our patrols so we're done in time for… well, you'll see."

Ginny, already forgetting about their slight disagreement, eagerly followed after him. Abraxas started talking about Quidditch and classes, his eyes lighting up so much that Ginny couldn't help but get sucked into the conversation. Soon they were chatting and laughing like old friends, and most of their patrol was done within what felt like minutes.

All that was left was the astronomy tower. Last Saturday, Abraxas had just asked the Bloody Baron to go up and make sure no one was there, but this time he prevented Ginny from doing the same thing.

"Let's go up this time. I could do with the exercise."

That was more than a little suspicious, but Ginny didn't say anything as she followed him up the winding staircase. Once they got to the top, the Head Girl moved to look around for any students participating in inappropriate activities, but a warm hand on her arm stopped her.

"No one's up here," Abraxas said, his lips curving up into a smirk. "I made sure of that."

"Wait, so-" Ginny started unbelievingly. "What-"

Abraxas ignored her in favor of spreading his blanket across the ground. While she stared at him in disbelief, he lowered himself onto the blanket, then patted the place beside him.

"Come on, Gin. It won't start for another twenty minutes or so. Make yourself comfortable."

"Er. What's starting in twenty minutes?" she asked confusedly. He sighed.

"It's a surprise. One that I think that you will like. Now, if you would…"

Ginny was still slightly skeptical, but sat down on the thick blanket, right next to him. The Slytherin smiled as he propped himself up on his elbows, moving just enough so that his arm rested against Ginny's. Her cheeks flamed, but she didn't move away.

For the next few minutes, they sat in silence, enjoying the night. There wasn't any moon, but the stars twinkled happily in the dark sky. Everything was peaceful and quiet and perfect. Ginny didn't know how it could get any better.

Then she saw the first one. A ball of light streaking across the sky.

"What was that?" Ginny asked, sitting up quickly. Abraxas smirked, but didn't answer. Ten, maybe twenty seconds passed, and then she saw another one. Seconds after it faded, another ball of light was already taking its place. A meteor shower.

"It's beautiful," she breathed.

Abraxas shrugged nonchalantly, but Ginny could see he was pleased by her reaction.

"Orion and I had a project that involved predicting meteor shows during first year Astronomy," he said softly. "We saw a few and decided to keep charting them, the big ones at least. Neither of us has come out to watch one for a while, but I figured that you might like to see one."

Ginny nodded fiercely and said, "It's perfect", with a huge smile on her face. Abraxas tossed a strong arm easily around her shoulder and looked at her with sparkling eyes.

"Yeah," he said in a soft voice that melted her to pieces. "It kind of is."

They watched the sky until the meteors faded away, and Ginny decided that it was the best night she'd had in a very, very long time.

When she went to bed later that night, her thoughts were swarming with blue eyes and a disarming smile.


	12. Getting the Last Laugh

Ginny twirled a strand of long red hair around her finger as she watched Riddle prepare for the prefect meeting. The Head Boy had an annoyed look on his face while he set out stacks of papers, but looking annoyed wasn't exactly an unusual occurrence for him, so Ginny wasn't excessively concerned.

She was staring so intently that she didn't notice Riddle turn around until he cleared his throat loudly, his eyes narrowed into a glare.

"Don't you have _anything _to do?" he asked sharply. Ginny shrugged.

"No, not really. You insisted on getting everything ready, so…"

Riddle muttered something under his breath and returned to his work.

Bored, the Head Girl grabbed one of the pieces of paper he had already set out. It wasn't anything more than a list of assigned partners, and she already knew who was with who, but she looked it over anyway. It gave her something to do.

_Abraxas_ _and Orion… Grace and Erin… Cassiopeia and Charlus Potter, Tom and Ginevra… WHAT? _

Ginny focused her sharp gaze on the Head Boy.

"Not that I don't completely adore you, Riddle, but why did you put us together?" she asked casually. "We already chose the pairs. What happened to Avery?"

Riddle's eyes flashed over to her momentarily before returning to the stack of magical photos that he was organizing.

"I prefer to have Avery working with McCreery on this project," he said dismissively. "It will benefit both of them."

"Why would you think that?" pressed Ginny, more than a little surprised at his reasoning. Despite herself, she couldn't help but remember the black ink she had seen on Mason's left forearm. What if Riddle was having Mason and Avery work on Death Eater business together?

"Oh, no reason," Riddle assured her. He finished with the pictures and set them on the coffee table, then regally lowered himself into his emerald green chair. "No reason at all."

The Head Boy was saved from more questioning when the portrait swung open. Tyler Avery hopped into the room, completely ruining the good mood that Ginny had begun the day with. Of course, the Dark Lord's puppy would be the one who just _had _to arrive early.

"My Lord," Avery said cheerfully, bowing to his master. Apparently Riddle had told him it was no longer necessary to act secretive around her. "Such a beautiful evening, isn't it?" The sandy-haired boy spun around so that he was facing Ginny. "So, so beautiful. Tell me, Miss Ginevrinny, don't you think so too?"

"Perhaps," she muttered venomously. "Although it would be even better if you weren't here."

Riddle smirked, and Avery, probably sensing a hex coming on, skipped over to an empty chair beside his master and plopped down.

Avery began muttering a continuous stream of words under his breath (_silent conversation?), _and the sound filled the room until the portrait creaked open once more. The rest of the Slytherin prefects had arrived, standing in formation outside of the door with Cygnus Black in front.

The tall, lanky Slytherin's usually mocking stare turned into a handsome smile when his eyes landed on Ginny. Without ceremony, he ambled over to her chair, grabbed her hand, and kissed it.

"I've heard so much about you, Ginevra," he said smoothly.

Ginny couldn't help but laugh. There was no way that Cygnus Black would go out of his way to greet a Hufflepuff without a reason.

"Abraxas asked you to do this, didn't he?" Ginny asked with a small smile, butterflies erupting in her stomach as she thought of their patrol for the millionth time.

Cygnus nodded, but his beautiful dark eyes shone with approval. This made Ginny a lot happier than it should have.

"More or less. Although Abraxas Malfoy does not ask for things," the youngest Black laughed smoothly. "He orders. Not that I required much prodding. You are quite smart… for a Hufflepuff. Rather pretty, too."

If she hadn't been so flustered by his compliments, Ginny probably would have laughed out loud when Abraxas hurried over to them after that last comment. He cuffed Cygnus on the back of the head and muttered, "Enough of the chivalry. I don't want her pining after you."

"She has the right to pine after whoever she likes," retorted Cygnus with a smile. Ginny opened her mouth to speak, but her words died in her throat when Abraxas easily settled himself beside her in the over-sized armchair.

"Not for very long," Abraxas drawled easily, his vibrant eyes not leaving Ginny's face as she spoke. "Isn't that right, Ginny?"

She swallowed, and, not wanting to answer, hastily replied, "I hope you realize that I am the Head Girl. I'm supposed to be setting an example for everyone else, which doesn't include having a Slytherin sitting in my lap."

Abraxas grinned and leaned into her slightly, tilting his face so that his eyes were way too close. Heart pounding against her chest, Ginny forced herself to stay calm. Riddle was watching, and he could not see her looking like a love-sick fool, even if she sure felt like one at that moment.

"You are setting an example, Gin. That doesn't mean it's necessarily a good one." She elbowed his ribs, and he raised his hands innocently. "Fine, fine, fine. I'll leave. On one condition."

"And what's that?" Ginny asked, pretty sure that she wouldn't mind the condition too much. Even though he was a Slytherin, he certainly wasn't one who terrified her. Much.

"Meet me tomorrow night by the old oak next to the lake," he whispered, his cool breath dancing across her face. It smelled like pineapple. Ginny wondered how he managed to get his hands on something that was so scarce with the war going on, then remembered that he was a Malfoy. It would not have been difficult for him.

"What time?" asked Ginny. Virtually all of the prefects had arrived, and most of them were staring at her and Abraxas. This was _not _good for Riddle's opinion of her.

Not like she really cared much at that moment.

"Eleven," Abraxas said. Then Ginny felt his cool lips on her forehead before he pushed himself out of the chair and led Cygnus off to where the other Slytherins were sitting.

Ginny wiped her sweaty palms on her skirt and let out a relieved breath. That hadn't been _too _humiliating.

The last prefect strolled into the room, and Ginny announced, in a slightly breathless voice, "Okay, I think we can start now. Our first order of business is to go into more detail about our help-the-orphans project. I would appreciate it if you would all grab one of the yellow sheets from the table, then move next to the person who you are to work with."

There was the general noise that came with twenty-four different people crowding around a tiny space, then even more commotion as protests rang out from various students. Abraxas glared at Riddle, no doubt blaming him for Ginny's new partnering, Cassiopeia cursed about getting stuck with Charlus Potter, and Avery was happily calling, "Macey McQueery, come, come, come! We have _much _to discuss."

Eventually the noise died down enough for Ginny to resume the meeting, taking the time to hand out photos and sheets of information to each pair. When she gave Cassiopeia the picture of the seven-year-old boy who she and Charlus would be helping, the black-haired witch let out a noise of disgust.

"Hideous little orphan. Give me another one," she demanded irately. "This creature is beyond my help."

Ginny stiffened at the cruelty in her words. It wouldn't be beyond Cassiopeia to kill the kid if she wanted to. Hell, she'd probably even laugh at his death. Take joy in his suffering. Just like Bellatrix.

_"I killed Sirius Black! I killed Sirius Black!" _

_"Have your parents remembered how to feed themselves yet, Longbottom?"_

_"Haha, two Weasels down, only a handful to go. Don't worry, little girl, it'll all be over soon."_

"Maybe I should go off and kill your entire family," Ginny snapped unthinkingly. "Then, when I'm finished, I'll take away all your possessions and leave you on the street to die. Maybe that would change how you feel about those who are 'beyond help'."

Ginny's eyes scanned the room, looking for backup, but the prefects did nothing but stare at her like she was a mental patient. Irately, the Head Girl demanded, "_What_? I'm a Hufflepuff, not a bloody saint!"

Then, her hands still shaking with anger, Ginny stomped back to her seat.

The common room became deadly quiet until Avery, with his usual bluntness, demanded, "Where's the picture of my darling little charge?"

This lightened the mood a little, but the tension was still evident enough that Riddle dismissed the prefects very soon after. Most of them left in a hurry, clearly eager to be away from the crazy head girl, but Abraxas stayed long enough to whisper, "Don't worry about Cassie, she's a bitch," before he left too.

Even though Malfoy's words helped slightly, Ginny was still angry, both with Cassiopeia and herself. She shouldn't have lost it like that, but Merlin, if the Slytherin girl did not learn to shut her mouth soon, Riddle wouldn't be the only murderer in the school.

"That was impressive."

The smooth words jerked Ginny out of her thoughts. She had forgotten that the Head Boy was still sitting next to her.

"What?" she asked.

"Your temper," Riddle explained. The intensity in his eyes showed that he wasn't mocking her for her lack of control. He was being honest. "Everyone in the room, save for myself, was terrified of you. Your show of power was enticing."

Ginny absolutely _despised _the way that she shivered when he used the word 'enticing'. What kind of insane deity blessed a person like Riddle with a voice that was so damned seductive?

"I wasn't trying to be controlling, or powerful," Ginny replied firmly, forcing herself to forget that the words 'Riddle', 'enticing', and 'seductive' had all been in her head at once. "All that I wanted was to get Cassiopeia Black to shut her mouth. The threat wasn't serious. I'm not a murderer."

Riddle smirked. Of course, he had already known that.

"No, you are not. A murderer would not have been sorted into Hufflepuff. I have no doubts about your goodness, Peverell. I have only become curious as to what lies behind it."

"You honestly believe that I'm good? Didn't you just see me threaten to kill off the entire Black family?" Ginny snorted. Then again, Riddle probably found no problem with her actions at all. His idea of good and evil was twisted beyond recognition.

The Head Boy's response to her question, however, was not what Ginny had expected.

"Threatening someone and acting against them are two very different things," he replied. "And your threat was for a morally justifiable cause, besides. You are… passionate, but about things that most consider right. If you believe in what is considered ethically moral, you can kill dozens and be heralded for it."

Ginny stared at him. His words made sense, but there was something in them that made her slightly uneasy. It was a moment before she realized what it was.

"You're justifying yourself," she accused. "Trying to make me see that I'm being unfair to you just because we don't see eye to eye."

Riddle stared back. "And is it not working?"

She opened her mouth to reply, then closed it quickly, rethinking her answer. Not hearing him out would do nothing for her in his eyes. With careful wording, Ginny replied, "I can't say that yet. I don't know what you believe in."

There was a short pause, and Ginny could imagine Riddle sifting through possible responses in his head, looking for the one that would present himself in the best light. Finally, he answered, "I believe in nothing more than giving power to those who deserve it."

"So it's a blood purity thing," she replied, "seeing as you're a Slytherin."

"In a way," he admitted rather coolly. "However, my distaste of Muggles does not stem from mindless bigotry. I am able to see that they are nothing more than cruel animals, and Muggleborns undeserving of what they are given. My efforts comes from little more than my desire to put everyone in their rightful place."

Ginny could feel the effect of his charisma full-force. Despite everything she knew about the Heir of Slytherin, despite knowing that all he wanted was revenge and power, she couldn't help but wonder if he was telling the truth.

Did Riddle actually believe that he was doing the right thing? _Was_ he just ignorant and confused? Ginny searched his face for any sign that he was lying, but found nothing. Maybe his treatment of Muggles did not stem from the need for revenge, but rather the conviction that they actually deserved it.

Then Ginny noticed the barest hint of smugness buried in the depths of his eyes, and her jaw clenched. The prat was lying his arse off. All that he wanted was to fool her into thinking he was nothing more than a poor, misunderstood orphan.

Like that was ever going to happen.

"I don't believe you," Ginny said as tolerantly as she could. "You're too smart to be so… blind. I know you came from a Muggle orphanage, Riddle, and they are terrible places, but to let a childhood grudge dictate your whole life is beneath you."

There was a very, very long silence after that. Ginny didn't know if Riddle was offended, surprised, angry… his face stayed completely emotionless the entire time, not giving away anything. She was actually getting kind of nervous that she had pushed him too far when he finally spoke.

"If a hatred for Muggles is not my driving force, what do you think is?"

Riddle's words, especially the detached curiosity purveyed in his voice, allowed Ginny to relax enough to come up with a logical response.

"You still live at an orphanage, you're obviously dirt poor, and from what I can tell, you have no real friends. Your life has been crap, Riddle, and I think that you're just trying to make sure everyone else has an even shittier time than you've had."

Ginny was talking down to him. Her voice, despite her best efforts, had become superior and condescending, and, like she had been expecting for a moderately long time, Riddle drew his wand. He didn't point it at her, just rested it in his lap, but his point was made. He was starting to get angry.

Without thinking about it, Ginny put her hand on her own wand.

"Do you really believe that I am that childish?" Riddle asked dangerously.

"Childish?" laughed Ginny. Her voice was slightly hysterical, but she pushed forward. "I doubt that you have ever been childish. Honestly, though. If you aren't fighting for revenge, and I really don't think that you believe all Muggles are as bad as the ones you grew up with, then what is your little group fighting for?"

Riddle studied his wand, turning it over in his hands again and again. Ginny's eyes followed the graceful twirling until he finally returned the stick of the wood to the pocket of his robes.

"Power," he finally said. His voice was strained. "I just want power."

Ginny stood, sensing that the conversation was coming to a close.

"I don't think that you're looking in the right place, then. Look at Salazar Slytherin. Julius Caesar. Nero. World War II is winding down in the Muggle world, and Hitler sure as hell isn't winning. Riddle, you're playing the bad guy right now, and they usually never get the last laugh."

Then she hurried out of the common room, wanting to get very, very far away before her words could sink in.


	13. A Better Fate Than Wisdom

"So, I was just thinking about how cute it would be if you and Malfoy had kids together. I mean, he's got those blue eyes, and… omigosh, they could so have pink hair, since, well, you know…"

Ginny stared at Allison in complete disbelief. She'd come down to the Hufflepuff common room after leaving her own, figuring that she could give Riddle some cool-down time. As it was, she was starting to regret her decision. All four of the seventh-year Hufflepuff girls were crowded around her with eager grins on their faces.

Even Erin, who usually had some semblance of maturity, was looking way too pleased for Ginny's liking.

"We aren't even going out," Ginny said as dismissively as she could, even though she didn't sound very convincing. They may not have officially been a couple, but they were definitely racing in that direction.

"It sure didn't look like that to me," Erin said, raising her eyebrows. Ginny tossed a pencil at her and tried to focus on her Transfiguration homework. It didn't work.

"He obviously likes you," agreed Virginia

"And I heard that Cygnus even talked to you," added Bonnie Abbot. "That's a huge deal. Not as big as if Orion did, but if Malfoy is getting the Blacks to speak to someone outside of Slytherin, he must really like you."

"You talked to Cygnus Black?" asked Allison. Ginny nodded absentmindedly. "Wow, this is a big deal. I think…" She trailed off with a strangely nervous look on her face.

"Ginny, can I talk to you about something?"

The Head Girl quickly looked behind her, to where Mason was hovering unsurely on the edge of the group of girls. His usual smile was nowhere in sight, and he actually looked incredibly nervous.

_Maybe he's going to tell me about the whole Death Eater thing_, she thought, already starting to gather her books.

"Yeah, sure," Ginny said quickly. She hopped off of the floor and followed after him, ignoring Virginia's muttered, "Why would she pick _him _over us?". Once they were off in a corner, away from the group of girls, she hesitantly asked, "What's up?"

Mason paled slightly and swallowed. He rubbed his left arm absentmindedly, like he couldn't stop thinking about what was surely a Dark Mark.

He opened his mouth and clamped it shut again. He was going to chicken out.

"Mason, you know you can tell me anything, right?" Ginny asked soothingly, giving him her best smile. "That we're friends, and I won't judge you, no matter what?"

"Friends?" he asked confusedly, studying Ginny carefully. He looked surprised.

"Of course," she said easily. "Probably my best friend at Hogwarts. All the girls are kind of… shallow, and Abraxas and I aren't exactly friends, per se, so…"

Those big eyes of his scanned her face, as if looking for something, but when they were done, instead of becoming happy like she'd hoped, they looked even more guarded than before.

"Well, thanks," Mason said. "I guess I never expected…" He shook his head, as if to clear it, then managed a smile that was a lot more forced than usual. "Just, thanks. You can go back to studying now."

"But you had something to say," Ginny said. When his eyes told her that enough was enough, she let out a huff but quit protesting. "Fine. Don't tell me then. But how about we do something else? I'm ready to kill those girls, and I do have tons of homework, so…"

"The library?" Mason suggested. Ginny smiled at him.

"Sounds perfect."

Then the two Hufflepuffs left the basement together, walking in a relaxed silence that Ginny couldn't help but enjoy. Even though she appreciated Abraxas's unrealistic confidence, it was kind of nice to be around someone who seemed human once in a while. With Mason, despite her worries about him being a Death Eater, Ginny knew that their interaction would always be easy and simple.

She let out a sigh, thinking of Riddle. If only her entire mission could be that way.

…

When Ginny returned to her common room later that night, the Head Boy was reading a thick book. His eyes were rimmed in red, and if she hadn't known any better, she would have said that he looked flustered. The slightly pained expression on his face suggested a fierce headache.

Riddle looked up when Ginny stepped into the room, staring at her so intensely that she was surprised she didn't spontaneously combust.

"Er, are you okay, Riddle?" Ginny asked hesitantly, vaguely wondering if she'd managed to blow up his brain or something of the sort. The ferocity in the Head Boy's expression was almost wild, and his eyes looked darker than usual.

"Fine," Riddle said dismissively. She looked at the title of his book, hoping to find some kind of answers there, but the title was in a language she couldn't read.

"Alright," Ginny said slowly, backing towards the staircase that led to her common room. She hadn't exactly expected to find that the Heir of Slytherin had suddenly turned into a patron of the light, but his angry appearance and choice of reading materials didn't suggest any change at all, except that he was probably excessively mad at her. That wasn't reassuring. "Good night."

Riddle didn't reply. Ginny hadn't expected him to.

…

Just before eleven o'clock the next evening, Ginny grabbed her warmest cloak and slipped out of the Head's common room, grateful that Riddle had already gone to sleep. Without Filch patrolling the school, getting out of the castle was a piece of cake, and Ginny found herself in the cool night air without any problems at all.

Once outside, the redhead jogged across the frost-covered grass and in the general direction of the glassy lake. A few years ago, the dark shadows that the moon threw across the grounds would have scared her, but war had showed Ginny that there were things a lot more terrifying than the dark.

Ginny was just about to the old oak that bordered the lake when Abraxas's lean figure stepped out from behind the tree, platinum hair glowing. He looked like nothing less than an angel with the way that the moonlight illuminated his hair and sharp features. Ginny was slightly surprised to find him waiting there, even though she wasn't entirely sure why.

"You look beautiful," Abraxas said with a small smile. He took a couple of steps closer to her and reached out to trace a cool hand down her cheek. Ginny swallowed as his glowing eyes met hers.

"And you look… good," she murmured, not quite sure if she could say anything else without making it obvious how just how dazzling she thought he was. Judging by the smirk that decorated Abraxas's face, it looked like he had a pretty good idea anyway.

"Not nearly as good as you, I'm sure," the Slytherin said dismissively. "Now, I hope you weren't expecting anything big. I was thinking that a simple walk would be nice."

"A walk would be perfect," agreed Ginny. Before she could lose her courage, she laced her fingers through his. Abraxas only smiled, moving closer to her as they ambled forward.

"I was wondering," he began, "if you were familiar with the village of Hogsmeade."

Holding back a smile, Ginny shook her head.

"Not really. I know that it's kind of close to Hogwarts, but I've never been there myself," she lied. "Why?"

"All students third year and up are allowed to go next weekend," Abraxas said softly. "I was wondering if you wouldn't like me to show you around."

"As in, on a date?"

Abraxas smirked. "A date," he said slowly, like he was testing the word on his lips. After a moment, the blond shook his head. "No, not a date. More like… a proclamation of our relationship. Would that be acceptable?"

Ginny forced herself not to gape, instead taking a deep breath and nonchalantly saying, "I wasn't aware that we had a relationship."

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" Abraxas asked. He pulled Ginny to a stop and stepped in front of her, linking both of her hands with his. "You're my girlfriend now. That is, if it's okay with you."

Her cheeks were flaming, and she was sure that she was about ready to pass out, but Ginny still found herself smiling so big that it hurt.

Merlin, she was going to go out with Abraxas Malfoy.

The Head Girl opened her mouth to tell him yes, then realized something and snapped it shut.

She was from the future. In a few months, she would be returning to a time where Abraxas Malfoy was rotting away in a casket. Would it really be a good idea to get into a relationship with him?

Ginny bit her lip and stared at the hopeful-looking blond in front of her. Sure, she'd been running their relationship along just as much as he had, but that hadn't exactly been one of her smartest moves. Still… How could she say no after all that? Besides, it wasn't like they loved each other or anything. Neither one of them would be impacted too much by her departure.

"It's more than okay," Ginny said softly.

Abraxas smiled his beautiful smile, then slowly leaned forward to brush his lips against hers, tentative, as if unsure how she would respond. Ginny beamed and tilted her head up to kiss him again, toes curling in pleasure as he gently deepened the kiss. He pulled away too soon, much more quickly than any guy in 1998 would have, but Ginny was breathless anyway.

Then Abraxas, like a perfect gentleman, softly brushed a strand of hair from her face and whispered, "Merlin, you're beautiful", before planting one more soft kiss on her lips.

Ginny only stared in disbelief, wondering where in the hell this fairytale prince had come from.

"Come on, Gin. It's cold, and we have class tomorrow," Abraxas said softly. Slightly dazed, Ginny could only take his hand once more and let him lead her back to the castle, unable to quit staring at him. Abraxas Malfoy. Her _boyfriend. _


	14. All Ye Need to Know

Saturday morning came in the blink of an eye, and Ginny, despite how uncharacteristic it was of her, got up early so that she could get ready. She didn't dare do too much, for fear of lowering Riddle's already shaky opinion of her, but the Head Girl did

take the time to curl her hair and apply eyeliner and a dash of lip gloss.

_Lavender would be flipping her lid if she knew I was going on a date with a Malfoy like this, _Ginny thought wryly as she adjusted the Stone of Eons around her neck.

Satisfied that she was presentable enough, Ginny exited her room and skipped down her staircase, planning on heading straight for the Great Hall to wait for Abraxas. She was more than a little surprised when a familiar voice asked, "Can I have a moment of your time, Peverell?"

The Head Girl screeched to a halt and whirled around, shocked to see Tom Riddle sitting in his usual chair, another thick tome in his lap. If it was possible, he seemed to have been reading more than ever over the last few days.

"Um," Ginny said hesitantly, then kicked herself. The fate of the world kind of outweighed a silly little date. "Yeah, I have a few minutes. What's up?"

Riddle closed his book, and, sitting up a little bit straighter (if that was even possible), began speaking.

"You said that you do not believe I will find true power on my current path, and some extensive research on my own part has proved you to be correct. The great empires of the past have all died out and are now largely unremembered. I do _not _want this happening to me. What do _you _think that I should do differently, Peverell?"

If Ginny hadn't gotten so much experience in acting over the past few weeks, she would have gaped like a fish.

Tom Riddle, the impossibly smart, stuck-up Head Boy, had just admitted to listening to _her _advice. Not only that, but he was even asking her to help him.

Ginny, with an enormous smile plastered on her face, hurried over to her usual chair and sat down across from him. She'd been on the receiving end of enough of Dumbledore's pep talks to know exactly what to say.

"You want something that'll give you the power to do anything?" the Head Girl asked excitedly.

"Yes," said Riddle, his voice annoyed and impatient. As if he could sense her answer was not going to be what he had in mind, his jaw was already clenched, his hands balled up into tight fists.

"Something that will make world domination appear childish and wasteful? Something that'll make everything you have ever experienced seem silly and insignificant?"

"Yes," he grit out, evidently regretting asking her the question. Ginny didn't care. He'd given her a wonderful opportunity to plant a little seed in his head, one that she hoped would root itself deep in that super-smart brain of his.

"Then find someone to care about," Ginny grinned, choosing her words carefully to go along with Dumbledore's rather accurate-seeming theory that Riddle couldn't love. "I mean, really, really care about."

The common room went quiet, and Ginny could hear the grandfather clock ticking away in the background, reminding her that she was probably late for her date.

Exactly thirty six long, awkward seconds passed before Riddle spoke again, amusement in his voice.

"You may be tolerable, but I suppose that you will always have foolish Hufflepuff ideals that are impossible to overcome. Caring is nothing more than a weakness, foolish girl, one that I will have nothing to do with."

Ginny stood up, telling herself that Riddle would warm up to her idea eventually.

"Don't laugh at what you don't understand, Riddle," she said, making her voice warm and friendly to emphasize her point. Staring right into his dark eyes, Ginny continued, "Until you can honestly tell me that you've felt what it's like to have a real friend, nothing that you say on this matter is valid."

"I do not-"

"What in the bloody hell will it hurt?" Ginny interrupted, taking two big steps, so that she was standing directly in front of his emerald green chair. "Would it really kill you to open your mind for a day or two, just to _try _to make a friend? If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. You have absolutely nothing to lose."

"No," Riddle said angrily. There was loathing written plainly in his eyes. Ginny stepped slightly closer, bravely putting her hands on the arms of his chair so that she could get right up in his face.

"Why? Are you too scared of what you might find?" she asked heatedly. Then, before he could yell at her, Ginny whirled around and exited the room in a dramatic manner that she was rather proud of.

…

Abraxas was waiting when Ginny finally jogged into the Great Hall, but, to Ginny's great consternation, he wasn't alone. Orion Black was standing next to Abraxas.

Ginny gulped at the sight of Sirius Black's father, and not because of any tender comparisons. She had seen Orion dozens of times during classes, and there was very little about the leader of Slytherin's upper class that reminded the redhead of Harry's godfather.

He was shorter than Sirius, and built more solidly, with darker skin and rougher features. With a broken nose that hadn't set right and hair somewhere between artfully tousled and hideously messy, the seventeen-year-old boy would have looked more like an orphan than Tom Riddle if it hadn't been for his fancy robes and the priceless rings adorning his fingers.

"Merlin you're beautiful," Abraxas grinned, pulling Ginny's attention away from Orion and over to him. He sauntered over to her and pecked her quickly on the lips. "I'll probably have to fight off all the blokes that'll be throwing themselves at you."

Elbowing him lightly in the ribs, Ginny snorted.

"Brownnosing is not becoming. But, for the record, you look pretty decent yourself."

Decent. Now that was an understatement. His navy blue button-down shirt and khakis, despite not being half as flattering as a pair of jeans and a nice snug t-shirt would have been, were an infinite improvement over his shapeless school robes.

"Decent," scoffed Abraxas. "I'm breathtaking and you know it. Now, if you don't mind, I have someone I would like you to meet."

Ginny nervously took the hand Abraxas offered and let him lead her to where Orion was lounging languidly against a wall. Orion straightened when Ginny and Abraxas stopped in front of him, and a roguish smirk danced across his lips. Without even thinking about it, Ginny smiled back. She had to. Charisma poured off of the Slytherin in bucketfuls.

"This is Orion Black," Abraxas said to Ginny. "If you're going to be hanging around me, you'll probably have to get used to him, too."

"Pleased to meet you," Ginny said easily. She was already starting to relax around the dark-haired Slytherin. Everything about him screamed 'likable'.

"And I'm just as pleased to meet you," Orion drawled. His voice had the same low, rough sound that Sirius's had. "Abraxas has been going on about the amazing Hufflepuff he found for weeks."

Cracking a smile at Orion's tone, Ginny joked, "You probably thought I slipped him a love potion at first, huh?"

Then Orion let out one easy, bark-like laugh, and if Ginny had closed her eyes, she could have been back at Grimmauld Place over Christmas break her fourth year, listening to Harry's godfather chuckle about something or another. The sound was loud and unadulterated. The laugh of someone who _wanted _people to stare.

"You're definitely not a normal Hufflepuff," Orion snorted. "I don't intimidate you at all, do I?"

"Not particularly," said Ginny, even though she suspected she would have been nervous if she hadn't gotten so used to dealing with tall, dark and handsome Slytherins over the past three weeks. Or one in particular, anyway. "Are you supposed to?"

"No," said Orion. "I'm not." Then, looking at Abraxas, the black-haired boy smiled and shrugged. "Go ahead. Keep her. She's obviously adept at playing with snakes."

Then he walked away, leaving Ginny with the feeling that she'd just received something akin to a compliment.

"He adores you," Abraxas assured her, then, with a smile, added, "Now come on. We should get going before we miss the carriages."

…

The rest of the day seemed to pass by within minutes. Abraxas bought her lunch at the Three Broomsticks when they got to Hogsmeade, and the remainder of the afternoon was spent touring the village's quaint little shops. Abraxas was by her side all day, offering to purchase anything that she showed even the slightest interest in. He opened doors and held her hand, and wasn't even a little embarrassed to be walking around with a Hufflepuff.

It was like something from a dream. When Ginny shivered from the September chill, Abraxas even slung a warm arm around her shoulder and pulled her to his side. Absolutely nothing went wrong, and even the few teasing arguments that the couple had only made the day better. It was the kind of date that no one imagined could actually happen in real life.

Once they returned to Hogwarts, weighted down with packages, Abraxas finished the perfect day with a sweet, tender kiss that Ginny felt all the way to the tips of her toes.

Happiness bubbled up into Ginny's gut and settled there, not fading until much, much later.

Despite the obvious drawbacks, she couldn't help but think that maybe her mission wasn't such a bad thing after all.


	15. Joy or Power?

**~You shall have joy, or you shall have power, said God. You shall not have both.~**

**Ralph Waldo Emerson**

When Ginny walked down to her common room that Sunday, she nearly fainted from shock. The Head Boy, reader of books on dark arts and strange rituals, was nursing a cup of the darkest coffee she had ever seen… while paging through a Muggle bible.

"Bloody hell, I'm better than I thought!" Ginny exclaimed as she descended her staircase. "It appears that the evil Slytherin has found religion!"

Riddle snorted and lowered his coffee to the table, dark eyes briefly landing on her before returning to the worn pages of the bible. "Even if there was a God, I would not worship Him," he said dismissively. "I cannot honestly believe the creator of this terrible planet to be my superior."

"Then why are you reading a bible?" asked Ginny. She plopped down into her usual chair, growing more and more relaxed around him with each conversation. Apparently it was possible to get used to anything over time.

"I am doing a small study of philosophy. Although much of this terrible book is filled with useless dribble about loving and caring-"

"-speaking of which, did you think about my proposal?"

Riddle ignored her.

"-there are other parts that show a very different idea of human nature."

"Okay," said Ginny. She had absolutely no idea what Riddle was talking about, as she had never touched a bible in her life. "I can understand that."

Amusement spread across Riddle's features. "You have no idea what I am talking about, do you, Peverell?"

"Not a clue," she admitted. "Care to enlighten me?"

The smirk that spread across Riddle's face told her that he was only too happy to do so.

"There are certain behaviors in this book that intrigue me greatly," Riddle began. "It appears that Christians wholeheartedly worship a being that they believe to be their intellectual and physical superior, one who gives them rules to follow and things to do, but who does not follow the rules Himself."

"I don't think-" started Ginny, but Riddle continued to speak, paying absolutely no attention to her at all.

"If people do not listen to Him, they are supposedly thrown into hell! The only way that they can save their souls is to humiliate and degrade themselves in senseless worship, occasionally dying to do so. And this is a religion? Their God supposedly wiped everyone from the face of the earth in a deadly flood! They say He casts people into a fiery pit for eternity!"

There had to be some misinterpreting on Riddle's part, Ginny was pretty sure of that, but his words were still too confusing for her to make complete sense of. With a hesitant expression, the Head Girl waited for Riddle to finish his rant.

"And… and he is esteemed for these actions," continued Riddle. He stood up to his full height, slamming the bible shut and stalking over to Ginny. "They worship Him and call Him loving and good. I do not believe that I am very different from their idea of Him, Peverell. I cannot believe I missed it before. The reason that most 'bad guys' do not come out triumphant is because they think too small."

_Uh-oh, _Ginny thought, catching on to what Riddle was saying. The Head Girl opened her mouth to speak, to say anything, but Riddle never gave her the chance.

"You had me worried for a while, but now I finally understand. When I rule," he said triumphantly, "I will not just be a ruler. I will be a god."

"No!" Ginny cried unthinkingly, hopping to her feet and almost slamming into the Head Boy. Even though he was well over half a foot taller than her, she was standing so straight that the Heir of Slytherin took an instinctive step back. "Y-you aren't a god, Riddle. I mean… You're powerful, but not… not like that. Please see sense. What would the point of taking over the world be? Honestly?"

"Power," Riddle said irately. His eyes were starting to darken, like they did when he was angry, but Ginny was too worked up to shut her mouth. The arse had just proclaimed himself to be a god!

"But _why_?" asked Ginny. "Is your head really shoved so far up your arse that you think you are entitled to it?"

The last sentence came out as a scream, right in Riddle's face, and the mood in the room changed instantly. Ginny froze, unable to even breathe, while Riddle took a step forward, then another, herding her back against the wall. Anger was rolling off of him in terrifying waves.

"I should kill you for that," Riddle said in a low, dangerous voice. "You taunt me, you do not respect me, and you lecture me as if you are _my _superior." He raised a hand and put it to her neck, applying a slight pressure, letting her know just how vulnerable she was.

"I-I didn't mean it," Ginny managed to choke out. Riddle couldn't have been impressed by how cowardly she was acting, but his opinion of her had rapidly lost its importance.

Riddle smirked, enjoyment evident in his face. His eyes were lit up with a cruel kind of light.

"But you did, Peverell…" Riddle said seriously. He gradually tightened his grip, smirking at the horror on Ginny's face, until the Head Girl could hardly breathe at all. She wanted to struggle, but still had enough sense to see that it would only make things worse. He wouldn't actually choke her to death, would he?

Of course he would. He was Lord Voldemort. He could kill her without a second thought.

"… And that is why I am not going to harm you," Riddle finished. His grip on her throat loosened and Ginny watched in disbelief as his imposing figure backed away from her. Ginny leaned back against the wall, knees weak from relief. "I find your bluntness amusing and your conversation intelligent and interesting."

Ginny swallowed, somewhat painfully. She anticipated bruises on her throat the next day, but was too relieved to care. "I- I- Please tell me you don't expect me to thank you for this," she said hoarsely.

"I wouldn't dream of it," said Riddle. "Now, tell me, do you find any fault with my goals?"

"Yes," she answered in a rather small voice. "I do, and you should, too."

"Why?" Riddle asked.

Forcing herself to look into the Head Boy's swirling dark eyes, Ginny forced herself to reply, "Because it won't make you happy."

The words came out of her mouth slowly and awkwardly, so far from the truth that Ginny was almost sure Riddle would notice, but he did not seem to. Instead, he let out a low laugh and shook his head.

"I was never meant to be happy anyway," he replied darkly, a strange look in his eyes that Ginny had never seen before. If she hadn't known any better, she would have thought that it was regret.

"You could be," Ginny breathed. She was lying, trying to lead him to the right side, to get him to trust her completely, only to stab him in the back. The Hufflepuff and Gryffindor in her cringed away, but an inner Slytherin was emerging that didn't care one bit. He would kill thousands, so she could kill him. Any means to achieve her ends. "Just listen to me, and you could be so happy."

_He could be happy_. Another lie, one that Ginny should have felt guilty about but didn't.

"You have no idea what you are talking about," replied Riddle. He took another step away from her, his dark ring catching the light and twinkling mockingly at Ginny. "Now, if you would please leave. I have certain matters to attend to."

So Ginny left. She had confronted him enough and was too scared to push him any further.

The Head Girl started off in the direction of the Hufflepuff common room, figuring that it would do her good to spend some time with Mason, but she didn't get very far before she heard two very familiar voices speaking quite loudly with each other.

"God, I want nothing more than to just get out, and you're the only one who can help me. McCreery, I'm begging you. Do _something_."

That was Mulciber. Ginny froze in place and held her breath, unsure whether or not she should announce her presence or keep listening. A short internal debate ended with her staying exactly where she was.

"I don't have the power that you think I do," another voice, Mason, said worriedly. "I'm just a Mu-"

"Do not say Muggleborn," interrupted Mulciber. "I'm not that stupid. You're German or Austrian, or... something. It's why you're so quiet, to make it easier to cover that accent." Mason said nothing, and Mulciber continued, "Grindelwald has taken over all of Continental Europe. There's no way a Muggleborn could use International Floo to get to Hogwarts. You're hiding something, something big, and something that Riddle wants to know. You have more power than most of the Death Eaters, and you're the only one who would ever consider using it to help me."

Ginny could almost see Mason shaking his head, his messy hair falling into his eyes. She wanted to think that he'd be appalled at Mulciber's accusations, but didn't dare let herself hope. Mulciber was right. Even though she'd forgotten about Grindelwald, that didn't mean that he didn't exist. Getting to Hogwarts from anywhere that was under his control would be difficult under any circumstances, but it'd be impossible for a Muggleborn. Mason was already lying about one thing, and apparently had even more secrets.

Were the secrets bad, though? By the way Mulciber was talking, it sounded an awful lot like Mason was keeping something from Riddle. Ginny forced herself to quit thinking and continued listening to the conversation, hoping that things would eventually become clearer.

"I can't help you," said Mason. "I just can't."

"Quit trying to be the hero. Eventually, Riddle _will _find out everything that he wants to know. It'd be better to use what you know to help me than to hold onto that information until he tortures it out of you."

_Okay, _Ginny thought, _Mason is most likely not a Death Eater. Just a filthy lying scum ball._

She bit back her anger and forced herself to reconsider her last thought. Mason's lies were apparently for a good reason, judging by what Mulciber was saying. Judging him was unfair. Besides, if she thought about it, she was just as much of a 'filthy lying scum ball' as he was.

"You have no idea what Riddle is doing," said Mason. "I do, and it's worse than you think… He's worse than Grindelwald, Mulciber. He wants to completely wipe out all of the Muggles and even though I know I can't stop him, I'm not going to help him either."

Ginny swallowed. She'd never heard Mason talk so much, and she never imagined that just a few sentences could be so damning. He knew. He knew everything, more than the Death Eaters. She had no idea where he got all this information from, but it was going to end up getting him killed.

"It'll only be a matter of time before he succeeds," argued Mulciber. "Please, just spare me the guilt of helping him. Make a deal with Riddle, tell him that you'll give him all the information he wants if he lets me go. It's my only chance."

"No," Mason said simply. Ginny had to hold back a snort. Even though Mulciber seemed pretty convinced that Mason's silence was only to hide his accent, he still had a talent for saying a lot with very few words.

"Please..."

Mulciber's voice trailed off as footsteps echoed away from where Ginny was standing, and she knew that Mason had just walked away from him. Whatever his secret was, it was too precious to give away.

Even though Mulciber wasn't happy about it, Ginny couldn't help but be relieved by Mason's decision. Riddle didn't need any more help than he already had. Besides, she was relieved to learn that Mason _was _against Riddle, even though all of his lying annoyed her to no end.

Then Ginny remembered something that made her pull up short.

If Mason wasn't a Death Eater, what in the world was on his arm...?

The Head Girl didn't have any time to ponder that question, as Mulciber's footsteps started in her direction.

Ginny quickly ducked behind a statue and watched the gangly Slytherin amble off towards one of the castle's unused wings. By the look of pure frustration on his face, she had no doubt that it was to spend some time alone. Ginny watched him move past her, then hurriedly headed down to the Hufflepuff common room, feeling more than a little frustrated herself.


	16. Beyond Good and Evil

"You know, I think I'm actually going to miss this little bugger," Abraxas said, setting Charlie gently on the ground in front of him.

"I'm not," Ginny muttered distractedly, her thoughts focused elsewhere, as they had been all week. She still needed to figure out some counterargument for Riddle's declaration of his godliness, which was seemingly impossible, and, while she was contemplating that, there was also the issue of Mason and his wealth of dangerous information.

After a good amount of thinking on Sunday, Ginny had decided not to confront Mason about what she had overheard. She didn't know if he would have admitted to anything or not, but it seemed like he was acting like he was for the right reason. Until she had to do otherwise, she'd leave him be.

"That's because you were too lazy to be a good 'parent'," said Abraxas. Ginny started a little, but focused her eyes on him as he continued, "I swear, I spent the last month watching Charlie twice as much as you have."

"I've been busy," Ginny said honestly.

"Yes, yes, Head Business," said Abraxas, rolling his eyes. Then he leaned close to her, so that his lips were nearly brushing her ear. "Or you've just been distracted by a certain blond-haired Slytherin."

Ginny elbowed him in the side, worried that Kettleburn would appear any second. He didn't seem the type to tolerate any outward signs of affection, and Ginny really wasn't in the mood to clean up hippogriff droppings for detention.

"You mean Nott?" she teased with a mischievous smirk. "Yeah, he is a looker."

"I hate it when you smile like that," Abraxas said, a grin spread across his face. "It's bloody infuriating. I'm not sure if it makes me want to kiss you or kill you."

"Killing me would be preferable," a distinctly rugged voice boomed.

Ginny whipped her head around fast enough to give herself whiplash, and, sure enough, Kettleburn was limping towards Hagrid's hut.

Even though the small class laughed at the teacher's words, Abraxas wasn't embarrassed at all. With a suggestively raised eyebrow, he lewdly replied, "You don't have to play hard to get, Professor. I can see how much you want me."

That got another round of snickers out of the class, and even Kettleburn had to give a short chuckle before he started going around to check on the health of the puffskeins. Abraxas tried out a few topics of conversation, but Ginny guiltily couldn't participate in any of them. Her thoughts were in a complete whirlwind, and concentrating on anything else was near impossible.

What in the world was up with Mason? Could she help? What about Riddle? Was there anything that could shrink his ego, or was it a lost cause?

Class ended, Kettleburn snatched Charlie away, and Abraxas stood up with an easy grace that most girls would die to have. Ginny dazedly took the hand that he offered her. When she was on her feet, she tried to let go, but he didn't let her.

"You're preoccupied," Abraxas stated.

"I have a lot on my mind," Ginny replied indifferently. Really she felt like collapsing into Abraxas's arms and letting him comfort her, but that wasn't exactly a realistic option.

"Is it anything I can help with?" Abraxas asked gently. Ginny gave him a shrug and a sad smile.

"Nah, not really. It's… worries about the war," she replied, dolling out another half-truth.

"Well, then that's understandable," Abraxas soothed. They were standing alone in front of Hagrid's hut. Kettleburn and the rest of the class had already started back to the school, but Ginny swore that she could feel someone watching them. She shook the feeling off. "You've been through a lot worse than anyone as good as you could possibly deserve."

Ginny had to give him a small smile at that, and she found herself tilting her head up towards his face.

"I'm not that good," she said, trying to push back thoughts of things that she had done during the war, things that she would have loved to forget. Abraxas rested a hand on her waist and smirked, leaning in a little bit closer, and then…

He jerked his head back and cursed loudly. Ginny jumped, whirling around to see what was going on, and then relaxed when she noticed a familiar figure tromping out of the Forbidden Forest. Her mild annoyance dissipated into cheerfulness when she saw a teenaged Hagrid hesitantly making his way towards his hut, tightly clutching a bucket of questionable-looking herbs.

Even though all of her Care of Magical Creatures classes had been near the half-giant's hut, Ginny had never actually seen him, nor really thought about him. For as close as the Golden Trio was to Hagrid, Ginny had never gotten to know him very well. Still, the sight of her old professor brought a smile to her face, and she lifted her hand to wave when Abraxas grabbed her other arm and started to drag her away.

"What are you doing?" Ginny asked sharply, trying and failing to get her arm away from him. Abraxas looked down at her in a matter that was almost chastising.

"You don't want to be near him," he said in a too loud voice. There was no way that Hagrid couldn't hear exactly what he was saying. "Being a half-breed is almost forgivable, but he's a murderer as well. Too stupid to know not to bring a giant bloody spider into the school. I don't want you anywhere near him."

Ginny froze and refused to budge. Dragging her away because he thought Hagrid was a murderer would be understandable. Everyone thought that in this time. Abraxas's other words, though… _Being a half-breed is almost forgiveable, _and, _too stupid to know not to bring a giant bloody spider into the school_… They reeked of the prejudice that she'd only caught glimpses of before.

"What?" she asked icily.

"Moaning Myrtle," cried Abraxas, desperately trying to yank Ginny away. "The oaf killed her." It became evident that Ginny wasn't going to move, so he stepped back and raised his hands into the air in frustration. "Merlin, tell me that you aren't mad at me for calling him stupid! He bought an _acromantula _into the school. I think that I have a right-"

"You didn't call him stupid for the acromantula thing," retorted Ginny. "You said that he was stupid because he was a half-breed! That isn't right."

Abraxas took a shaky breath and raked his hands through his hair.

"You're kidding, right?" he asked, shaking his head. Ginny snorted. "Okay, obviously you aren't. It's a fact, though. Hagrid, that oaf, is part giant, and giants don't have normal human thought processes. Genetically, if you take a giant and a human, the offspring will be a mixture of each. Not as dumb as a giant, but not as smart as a human."

"That's stupid!" said Ginny. "If someone with red hair has kids with someone with blond hair, they won't have freaking pink-haired babies. This is the exact same thing."

"So now we're having kids?" joked Abraxas. Ginny stomped her foot and angrily yanked her arm away from his grasp. "Ginny," said Abraxas. "Calm down, please. I'm sorry that I offended you, okay? The half-giant isn't stupid. Can we please go now?"

Ginny stared at Abraxas and tried to gauge his sincerity. He _did _look sorry, but Ginny didn't know if he was sorry for what he said about Hagrid or sorry for making her mad. After a moment, she decided that it didn't matter. If he really didn't want to offend her, he would keep his mouth shut in the future, despite his beliefs.

"Alright," Ginny sighed. "We can go."

Abraxas grinned and gave her a quick peck on the lips. "Great. Now come on, I have an essay I need to get finished before potions this afternoon."

With an exasperated glance in her boyfriend's direction, Ginny forced a smile and followed him back to the castle.

…

Ginny spent most of that night in the library with Mason, fighting through another enormous pile of homework. She was tempted to question him about the conversation she'd overheard, but continued with her plan of pretending that everything was normal.

Like always, Mason was quiet the entire time they studied, and his only parting words were a quick good-bye. A frustrated Ginny watched him amble off, staring at him intently, as if an answer was going to appear on his back.

"I'm going insane," Ginny muttered to herself, then quickly headed off for her common room.

After a second thought, however, the Head Girl decided that she could do with a quick snack. She had been too preoccupied to eat much at supper, and was absolutely _starving._ Smiling at the prospect of food, Ginny made a sharp turn and headed to the kitchens.

Ginny was in front of the portrait of the pear in no time. She absentmindedly tickled the portrait and stepped through the opening, expecting to be greeted by the sight of dozens of happily working house elves working in the homey-looking kitchens.

Like always, the elves _were _there, but someone else had joined them.

Tom Riddle raised an eyebrow at Ginny's entrance. He was drinking a steaming cup of what looked like cat urine, and there was, unsurprisingly, a thick book in front of him. Ginny was beginning to wonder at Riddle's evident popularity. He was such a nerd that she couldn't believe he got as much respect as he did.

"I was hungry," Ginny said as way of explanation. Several elves were rallying around her feet, asking for what she wanted, but the redhead didn't dare take her eyes off of Riddle. "Although I'm not sure anymore, not after seeing what you're drinking. May I please ask what in the hell that is?"

"It's mint tea," Riddle replied with more amusement than venom. Ginny wasn't sure whether she should be glad he wasn't being uptight, or concerned that he might not have been taking her seriously.

"I've never tried it," said Ginny, guessing that it was probably Muggle.

"It is not as bad as it looks," said Riddle. Ginny looked at carefully, decided it looked disgusting and couldn't possibly taste good, and plastered her best smile on her face.

"I think I'll take one," she said to one of the elves. Anything to humor Riddle. "I'd like a turkey sandwich also." Then the Head Girl plopped down across from Riddle and asked, "Whatchya reading?"

The Heir of Slytherin held up his book in response. It was a detailed explanation of creating Inferi. Ginny couldn't help but smile.

"I take it that you got tired of reading the Bible?"

"Not tired of it," replied Riddle. "I simply finished all parts of interest. Shouldn't you be relieved, anyway? If I remember right, you didn't agree with my opinions on that particular book."

"I have trouble agreeing with any opinions that are obviously wrong," Ginny said casually, trying to keep the conversation light. "As far as I know, you're as flesh and blood as I am, not a divine being."

"And if I'm working on changing that?" Riddle asked. "If I can change myself into something more god-like? Something immortal?"

Ginny was momentarily shocked that he would speak so casually about something like that, but then she realized what was going on. After all of their conversations and arguments, Riddle was starting to realize that she wasn't going to go and tattle on him. In the loosest way possible, Tom Riddle was starting to trust her.

"Then you're stupid," Ginny replied, pushing back the urge to break out into a celebratory dance at her tiny bit of progress. "With the way you're going, you could exist for thousands of years and not know what it's like to ever really live."

_Wow, I should write that one down, _Ginny though with a private smile. With Riddle around, she was starting to get pretty philosophical.

"Is there a difference?" asked Riddle emotionlessly, closing himself off, not showing anything. Ginny swallowed and nodded.

"Yes, there is. When you live, you actually have a purpose, a reason, and you wouldn't have that if you somehow figured out a way to live forever, or whatever in the hell it is you want to do. If you do manage to take over the world, will it really accomplish anything? Just like now, you'd get up, flaunt your power, read a few books and go back to bed. Over and over and over again."

Ginny thought that Riddle was going to deny what she said, that he was going to get angry and maybe even leave. She was already tensing up, waiting for him to blow up. Then… then his eyes locked onto hers, and he quietly replied, "That is what life is like for me, Peverell, and it is what it will always be like. I can't change it, so I might as well make the most of it."

The mood in the kitchens suddenly became so tense that Ginny could hardly breathe, even if she could have remembered how to in the first place. All in one quick second, Tom Riddle seemed to become someone else completely. Instead of being cold, Ginny swore that she saw weariness in his dark eyes. His normally emotionless face couldn't help but show just a little bit of his tiredness, and the rigid posture that he always held had slackened the barest amount.

In the messy, awkwardly lit kitchens, the Heir of Slytherin had never looked so human.

"I-I-" started Ginny unsurely. Then, remembering her mission, she forced herself to calm down and gently said, "It _doesn't_ always have to be like that."

_Of course it doesn't, _Ginny thought bitterly. _The second I convince you to be happy, you'll also be dead. _

She shook her guilt away. Riddle deserved everything that she was going to give him.

"You don't understand," laughed Riddle humorlessly. "I am not like you. I don't make friends, I can't be happy." He shook his head as if he could not believe what he was saying. "But it doesn't matter. I'm better than you, than everyone else. I wouldn't want to lower my standards anyway."

And there went the moment of humanity.

"We've had this argument before," Ginny said in annoyance. "You are not better than me, and you aren't any better than everyone else, either. If you'd just try, you would understand. You could make friends, smile, be happy, and it'd mean more to you than being a god ever could. You just don't know it yet."

Riddle snorted and took a sip of his tea. "I may not understand what it's like to have friends or love someone, but do you have any idea what _I'm_ talking about? Have you ever really felt power?"

Ginny shivered, remembering her first year and that stupid diary. With Tom with her, it had felt like she had been able to do anything. It was addicting and perfect and terrible. A part of her missed the feeling.

"Yes," Ginny said softly. "I have, and it almost killed me. In fact," she continued, "it _did_ kill part of me. You can't not realize how much power costs us. I'm sure that you've already given more than you should have."

"Perhaps," Riddle said slowly. His and Ginny's eyes both went to the ring on his left hand, dark and dull in the dim kitchens. "But I think that it has been worth it."

"It's never worth it," retorted Ginny. "If you weren't so thick, you'd see that."

A house elf approached them, a plate in one hand and a steaming mug in the other. Ginny nodded at it, giving it permission to set the food down, but didn't let her gaze wander too far away from the Head Boy. The elf walked away, and they both fell into a heavy silence.

Ginny, trying not to let the tension get to her, took a sip of her tea. It wasn't as bad as it looked, surprisingly. She took another sip and decided that it was actually kind of good.

"You're enjoying it," Riddle stated. His voice was cooler than it had been at the beginning of their conversation, but still had a lightness that told Ginny that their argument was over.

"It's good," she shrugged honestly. "Really soothing."

"That's why I drink it," smirked Riddle, giving her a pointed look. "It helps with headaches. Or at least it usually does. It's much less potent when the headaches follow me around."

Ginny couldn't help but laugh. Riddle was actually being kind of funny. Slightly offensive, but funny.

"You need headaches every once in a while," she said. "Being forced to think about some things can be beneficial."

"_Can _be. In this case, it's just… distracting."

"We'll see," smirked Ginny, pretending that she was as confident as Riddle seemed to be.

"I suppose we shall," answered Riddle. Then he downed the last of his tea and stood up. "Now, despite how enjoyable this conversation has been, I have things to do-"

"Meeting with your friends?" Ginny interrupted with a raised eyebrow.

Riddle didn't even bother getting mad. Instead, a rather… roguish smirk spread across his face, and he replied, "No, but I am meeting with one of yours."

"Mason?" asked Ginny immediately, hopping to her feet, but Riddle had already disappeared out the portrait hole.


	17. Everything Except for Drowning

Ginny got up early the next morning with plans to spend her Saturday in the Hufflepuff common room. She really hadn't done anything with Erin and Allison in a long time, and was kind of starting to miss them.

After tossing her hair back in a sloppy ponytail and throwing on a comfy pair of slippers, Ginny slung her book bag over her shoulder and sleepily made her way out of her room and down her staircase. She was just about to open the portrait when it swung open on its own accord, allowing the tall Head Boy entrance into the room.

"Ah, Peverell," Riddle said coolly. "I have been meaning to speak with you."

This was more than a little surprising, seeing as Riddle usually acted like he thought Ginny was the most annoying person on earth.

"Great," Ginny said happily, pretending that it was a normal occurrence for him to talk to her out of his own free will. "I take it that you want to tell me which one of my friends you visited last night? Or maybe you even want to say that you really considered my advice on making friends and want me to show you where to start?"

"For being the Head Girl, you certainly are foolish," Riddle replied with an almost inaudible snort. "No, we actually have business to discuss. I am sure that you have not forgotten about our charity project."

Ginny froze in place and looked at the thick manila envelope that Riddle was holding. She _had_ forgotten about it, and Riddle obviously knew it.

"Oh… Yeah. Well, you see, I'm going down to the Hufflepuff common room to do some homework with my friends, so it would be really cool if you could get started on that," she said hopefully. Riddle raised an eyebrow, and Ginny sighed. "Okay, fine. We can spend this morning working on it; I don't have _that _much homework. Have you started yet?"

"Not yet," said Riddle as they returned to the common room and took up their usual seats. He was infuriatingly unsurprised that Ginny obeyed him without question.

"Too busy plotting to take over the world?" Ginny asked, fighting to keep her voice teasing. Riddle narrowed his eyes, and Ginny quickly raised her hands innocently. "Okay, forget I said that. How about we get to work helping out our orphan?"

"That would be a good idea," said Riddle, his long fingers deftly opening the envelope and pulling out an official-looking document. One of the pictures that Riddle had been messing around with at the last prefect meeting fell out, revealing the face of a young girl with enormous blue eyes, dark-brown ringlets and a jigsaw puzzle smile.

"She's adorable," commented Ginny.

"No, she is not. Unlike you, I have lived at an actual orphanage. _No_ orphan is adorable. They are constantly sniffling and whining, and none of them know how to keep their mouths shut," Riddle retorted, his dark eyes looking harshly at the picture. Ginny snorted.

"Except yourself, of course," she said dryly.

"Clearly," said the Head Boy. He gave the letter a quick glance, then set it neatly on the coffee table. "Her name is Addison Mickelson. She is eight years old and has lived at an orphanage in Wizarding London since her parents left her to join Grindelwald's cause just over three years ago."

_Her parents were even worse than Riddle's, _Ginny couldn't help but think. At least Riddle's mother hadn't wanted to leave him. _Poor girl. _

The Head Boy seemed completely unaffected. "Today, all that we must do is initiate our correspondence. A simple letter introducing ourselves should suffice."

"Sounds good to me," said Ginny.

Riddle pulled out a piece of parchment, and Ginny's eyes followed the tip of his shabby old quill as he wrote, _Dear Addison, _on the top of the paper. His handwriting was immaculate.

"Just make sure that you don't use big words. The girl is only eight, and your usual vocabulary might get kind of confusing."

"Yes, yes, I realize this," Riddle said impatiently. _**I, Tom Riddle, and my friend Ginevra Peverell are going to be writing to you over the course of the next few months.**_

"Friends?" asked Ginny, not even bothering to hope that they were anywhere near friendship. The word was just part of his 'Good Riddle' persona. "Reeeaally?"

Riddle's eyes flashed with annoyance, but he didn't quit writing. "That was for nothing more than the sake of appearances. I have no friends." _**Both of us being orphans ourselves; we can empathize with your circumstances and hope to give you reliable sources of support and friendship as you search for happiness and acceptance. **_

_She's going to have no idea what in Merlin's name he is talking about. _

"Speaking of which, do you remember that conversation that we had a week or so ago? About friendship?" Ginny questioned.

"Yes," Riddle said shortly. _**I am the Head Boy at Hogwarts, and enjoy reading and studying. Ginevra is my co-Head and takes pleasure in social interaction. **_

As if an eight-year-old would know what 'social interaction' was.

"And have you thought about it any?" Ginny pressed. "I mean, you have to realize that it wouldn't hurt anything if you just _tried _to make a friend."

_**We are both keenly interested in the welfare of those affected by this war, and look forward to doing everything that we can to make you feel like you have a warm, loving family. If you have any problems, if you need anything, or if you simply want to talk, write to us and we will do everything in our power to help you. **_

"I thought that our last couple of conversations would have made my thoughts on that matter completely clear," Riddle said distractedly. _**We hope to hear from you soon. –Tom and Ginevra**_

"Gods can have friends," tried Ginny. The Head Boy snorted as he rolled his sheet of parchment up tight and deftly tied a piece of green ribbon around it. "Okay, that was stupid, but you're being pretty dumb, too. You can become immortal and show the entire world that you're a super-powerful dictator, but it won't make _you _feel any better."

"If I do not care, why should you?" asked Riddle coldly.

_Because I need to be your friend so I can steal little pieces of your soul, stab them with a sword, and then brutally murder you in your sleep. _

"Because I'm a Hufflepuff, and that's what we do. We care about other people. I really do just want you to be happy," Ginny lied easily.

Riddle stood to his full height, the letter held loosely in his left hand. His face was frustratingly blank. "I'm going to the owlery. You can go spend time with your silly friends."

"And if I want to continue this conversation?" Ginny asked stubbornly.

"I need time to _think_," Riddle shot back. "Perhaps if you give me some peace and quiet to sort out my thoughts, I will be able to give you a more definite reply on the matters that you find yourself so concerned about."

Ginny immediately shut her mouth, and Riddle smirked and strode out of the room, _hopefully _to think over Ginny's words. Merlin knew that would make her life easier. As soon as Riddle started cooperating, she could focus on her other problems. Like Mason.

_If _Riddle ever started cooperating, that is. If he didn't, well… Mason McCreery would be the least of Ginny's worries.


	18. A Friend in Need

Ginny woke up at five o'clock the next morning with a stomachache and a pounding head. Her first thought was that Riddle had poisoned her, but that was stupid. If he wanted her dead, he would have used the killing curse.

Only feeling slightly reassured by this fact, the Head Girl stumbled out of her room and into the bathroom that she and Riddle were forced to share, and proceeded to puke her guts out. Feeling hot and sticky, she dragged herself off the floor to wash her face off, but was soon forced to her knees again to gag up whatever was left in her stomach.

The Hufflepuff took a shaky breath and leaned her head against the cool porcelain of the tub, closing her eyes and relishing the way that it felt against her burning skin. It figured that she'd wind up with the flu for the first time in years when she really, really needed to be healthy.

A wave of nausea swept over Ginny again, but there was nothing left for her to heave up. When she finally called it quits and moved to resume her position on the floor, she noticed the tall Slytherin standing in the doorway.

Tom Riddle, with thick flannel pajama pants and bare feet peeking out from the bottom of hastily thrown on robes, was staring at her with an unreadable expression on his face.

Right. He usually got up insanely early so that he could eat breakfast alone.

Ginny was in the mood to tell him to go screw himself, but forced her sick, achy mind to remember her mission.

"I'm sorry," Ginny said pathetically, her throat painfully raw from throwing up. "I'll just go back to my room."

Then, with the little strength she had, she hefted herself to her feet, stumbled, and fell right into Tom Riddle's arms. To her intense surprise, he actually caught her. Ginny couldn't help but note that his arms were surprisingly strong considering how thinly he was built.

"You're sick, Peverell," Riddle said coldly, pushing her away the moment that she had her footing. Ginny's brain, which wasn't working so hot at that moment, took note of the fact that his thick hair was standing almost straight up, some strands falling lazily into his eyes, and that it was actually kind of cute.

"Duh," said Ginny hoarsely. "Now, if you'll excuse me-" she started to stagger past Riddle again, but he stepped in front of her.

"You won't even be able to make it back to your room."

"Why do you care?" Ginny couldn't help but mumble. Riddle ignored her question.

"I have a potion in my room that you can take. Go shower, and I will give it to you afterwards."

_Wait… Is he offering to help me? _

"B-but," started Ginny in disbelief. "You're not… you don't… _why?_"

"At the moment, you are on my good side. There are benefits to that, as I am sure you realize."

"I'm not one of your stupid followers," Ginny grumbled unenthusiastically.

"No," said Riddle, looking at her with piercing gray eyes. "You're not."

Then he spun on his heel and walked away.

Ginny decided to write the Head Boy's odd behavior off to the fact that it was too early for him to be completely awake. Once that conclusion had been reached, she went to shower as quickly as she could so that she was finished when Riddle realized what he had done.

The hot water did make the Head Girl feel better, and after changing into a pair of comfy (albeit ugly) saddle shoes and her softest school jumper, she didn't feel quite as terrible.

When Ginny tiredly descended the staircase, she was more than a little shocked to see the Head Boy reading in his chair. He was dressed and his hair was clean, so he must have gone down to the Slytherin common room for a quick shower… but what was he still doing in the common room?

Ginny paused apprehensively, unsure of what she would do, but finally decided to simply move forward. If Riddle had been honestly helping her, he would have a potion waiting for her, and it wouldn't do any good for her to leave like she didn't trust him at all. If she wanted him to have faith in her, she had to put her faith in him.

Taking a deep breath, Ginny hopped off the last stair and staggered tiredly into the common room.

"Do you have that potion for me?" she asked, her voice still raspy. Riddle's eyes lazily moved from his book to her, locking right onto her eyes.

"Right here," he said, then reached into his worn bag and pulled out a small flask of shimmering blue liquid. It wasn't any potion that Ginny had ever seen, but it _looked _perfectly harmless.

_He has no reason to poison me, _Ginny chanted mentally as she stepped forward, forcing herself to appear unconcerned that she was accepting a potion from the future dark lord.

"Thank you," she said, saturating her tone with over-exaggerated relief. She reached out and grabbed the flask from the table, opened it, and downed it in two gulps.

It tasted thick, warm and sugary, and smelled like freshly-baked sugar cookies- the best potion that she had ever tasted, honestly. It even sent a pleasant warm feeling through her chest and down to the pit of her stomach.

"What was that?" asked Ginny, eyes wide with amazement. Her headache was still there, but her nausea had faded until it was barely noticeable.

"A light stomach-settling potion. I..." he hesitated for a moment, then continued, sounding like he was forcing his tone to stay apathetic, "I usually bring several flasks to the orphanage with me over the summer."

He didn't have to say why. Ginny could figure it out pretty easily. A Muggle orphanage in the middle of London during World War II? Riddle probably ate food not fit for dogs, if he got any at all. Ginny had to push away a stab of pity at the thought.

"It's brilliant," confided Ginny, taking care not to make a big deal out of the tiny bit of personal information that he had given her. "Thank you. Really."

Riddle shrugged like it was nothing, and Ginny shot him a tired smile before curling up on her yellow chair and shutting her eyes, hoping to grab another hour of sleep before classes started.

…

"Aren't you just beautiful today?" Orion Black drawled as he walked into the dungeons for potions. Ginny was the only one in the classroom other than Slughorn; she'd had a free period the hour before and had dragged herself to class early, knowing that she would have been too tempted to ditch otherwise. Her headache was still bothering her, the warmth from Riddle's potion was wearing off, and all of her muscles were achy and tired.

"Go crawl in a hole and die," Ginny muttered, not in the mood to banter with a stupid Slytherin.

"Cheerful, too," added Orion. He sat himself in Riddle's seat, which was just about the dumbest thing he possibly could have done. Ginny didn't find it necessary to warn the dark-haired Slytherin- he knew exactly what he was doing.

If only Abraxas would come and take pity on her. Or if Riddle would come and chase him away. Anything to get the stupid smirking Slytherin out of her face.

"What are you doing, 'Ryan?"

_Ha. Take that, arsehole. _

"Speaking with your girlfriend," Orion replied, turning his torso so that his upper body was facing his best friend. "She isn't being very conversational. I think that she's sick."

"She's been sick all day, unless you're too thick to have noticed," Abraxas replied.

Ginny's lips turned up into a small smile when the blond reached the table and leaned forward to plant a kiss on her forehead.

"Not thick," retorted Orion. "Just… distracted." With that, a warm smile crossed his features, and the dark-haired Slytherin reached over to ruffle her hair. "Sorry, Ginger. I just figured that you needed some cheering up."

Ginny glared and ignored him, hoping that he would get the hint and take his talkative attitude elsewhere. Unfortunately, he didn't move from his seat.

"'Ryan," hissed Abraxas. "You really should-"

"Leave."

A different voice finished the sentence, one that made Ginny internally shudder. Now Mulciber was going to come and try to chase Orion out of his master's seat, but Orion was going to refuse, and there was going to be a big, noisy argument.

"Get your ugly face out of here," Orion said, his teasing demeanor switching to a biting drawl. "You don't want to make the girl sicker than she already is."

"Your attitude's making her more sick than my face," Mulciber said when Ginny buried her head in her hands.

"My attitude is perfectly well-placed. You're the one who hexed her boyfriend-"

"I don't really care about that anymore," Abraxas tried to cut in, but his friend didn't hear him.

"-so I expect that she hates your guts."

"I'm starting to like him more and more every second, actually," Ginny muttered to the table. Riddle was always insanely early, so where in the hell was he? Someone needed to break up the argument, and it was becoming increasingly obvious that Slughorn wasn't going to do it.

"I'm not trying to pick a fight," said Mulciber. "Just get out of Riddle's chair right now, or he is going to make you leave."

"I'm not afraid of St. Riddle."

"_Orion_," hissed Abraxas.

"What? The filthy beggar could ride in here on a bloody basilisk and I wouldn't be scared of him."

Ginny couldn't help but cough at his terrible choice of words.

"That can be arranged, if you would like," said another familiar voice.

Riddle's comment, said in a friendly, teasing tone, had Ginny coughing even harder in an attempt to hide misplaced, slightly inappropriate laughter.

"I would be overjoyed," Orion drawled in reply, not showing any surprise or making any move to get out of Riddle's seat.

"I was trying to get him to leave," said Mulciber.

"It's fine. He was merely talking to a friend," Riddle assured Mulciber genially. Then, turning to Orion, the Head Boy continued, "And as amusing as I find it that you think I would scare you off, I would never stoop to such a level. Class is going to begin in roughly fifty seconds, and you will have to leave then, anyway."

"Then I'll wait fifty seconds," Orion retorted sharply, even if the cockiness he usually had scrawled all across his face had faded. He very obviously had no idea how to deal with Tom Riddle.

"You're acting like a child," said Riddle.

"Come on. Ginny doesn't need to be dealing with this," Abraxas added, looking angry at himself for agreeing with Riddle. Orion looked at his best friend, saw the pleading look on his face, and let out an annoyed huff.

"I suppose you're right," he admitted, hopping cockily out of his chair, like he hadn't just lost an argument. As if nothing had happened, he ruffled Ginny's hair again, brushed past Riddle and Mulciber, and headed off to the other side of the room. Abraxas quickly brushed his lips against Ginny's, then followed his friend.

Riddle let his mask fall for a moment, revealing his anger and annoyance, but quickly rebuilt it before he turned to Ginny.

"You can rest today. Our potion is nearly complete, and I do not want you messing it up so late in the process."

Ginny eagerly complied, giving Riddle a sincere, "Thank you" before laying her head on her arms and closing her eyes.

The room soon erupted into a light flurry of motion as Slughorn ordered everyone to get to work. Her raspy, tired breathing mixed with the sounds of clanking metal and confused mutters, creating a soothing melody that slowly lulled Ginny's tired mind closer and closer to sleep.

She was just about ready to dive into dreamland when Riddle said, his velvety voice slightly louder than normal, "It's finished. I assume that you wish to present it to Slughorn with me."

"Er, uh, yeah," yawned Ginny. She slowly sat up and blinked several times, forcing herself to concentrate. Riddle was already holding a flask filled with bubbling brown potion, waiting for her to get up. "And thanks, again. You've been really decent today."

"That statement just makes my day," said Riddle sarcastically.

Ginny made a face as she got to her feet.

"It should," she said, speaking slowly as she thought. "You've been acting like… almost like a friend."

And as she said it, she realized it was true. Helping her in the bathroom, getting her that potion, getting Orion to leave (which was for his benefit as much as hers), and finishing the polyjuice potion for her (also for his own benefit)... he had been helping her out all day. It was all kind of amazing, actually.

"We aren't friends, Peverell," replied Riddle coolly.

"I never said that, now did I?" Ginny retorted, even though now she was starting to wonder how long it would be until they _were _friends. For the first time, it almost seemed like completing her mission wasn't some far off impossibility.

"You implied it."

Ginny normally would have continued arguing, but settled for making a noncommittal grunt. She didn't feel like bickering, and Riddle wasn't going to change his mind, anyway. Pushing the matter further would have been pointless.

Riddle, his eyes lighting up with superiority at his victory, strolled slowly and gracefully to Slughorn's desk, Ginny awkwardly stumbling alone behind him. Slughorn raised his eyes from a paper he was grading to acknowledge the pair of them in surprise.

"Finished?" He took in the brown potion in Riddle's hand, his eyes widening as he did so. "And perfectly, too, by the looks of it. Very good work, Tom, Ginevra. I am impressed. Er, I am afraid that I have nothing for you to do while the others finish, but I'm sure you won't mind helping me organize my storage cupboards. No? Good.

"Now, I think that this would be as good a time as any to invite you to a formal supper that I will be holding on October 19th. For my best students, you realize."

"I don't really think-" started Ginny weakly.

"Nonsense!" said Slughorn. "I will see you both there. Now, leave me be. I have essays to correct."

Ginny stifled a groan, and Riddle's shoulders stiffened. When they were back at their desk, out of hearing distance, Ginny muttered, "I have no idea how you managed to put up with him for all these years."

"Dreams of his death," said Riddle quietly in response. "Dreams of his long, painful death."

For the first time, Ginny could kind of see where the Heir of Slytherin was coming from.

…

Throughout the rest of the day, Ginny's flu continually got worse. By suppertime that evening, the effects of Riddle's potion were long gone, leaving her with a churning stomach, a pounding head, and an aching body. Not only that, but she was as loaded down with homework as ever.

The door to Riddle's room swung open, and he and Mulciber descended the staircase. They had been discussing something or another for hours, but she had been too tired to really care what it was. Ginny, who was trying to force herself to read her Transfiguration homework, planned on ignoring them. At least until Riddle stopped in front of her and spent a good thirty seconds looking over her face.

Finally, he shook his head and said, "Go to the hospital wing, Peverell. You look like hell."

Shocked, Ginny obeyed immediately, shrugging into her school robes and heading in the direction of the hospital wing. If Riddle was telling her to go Madam Lucas, there was probably something really wrong with her. Besides, she _did _feel like hell. Nothing bad could come from taking his advice.

She was about halfway to the hospital wing when she realized how wrong that previous thought was.

"Tell me, McCreery! Tell me, or I _will _kill you," a ragged voice shouted angrily.

_Crap. That's Avery, and… and Mason. _

Ginny forced her aching body to run forward, quickly rounding a corner just in time to see Mason narrowly dodge a bright yellow curse from Avery. The Hufflepuff fired back, but his hex went right at the last moment. Ginny raised her wand and opened her mouth an instant after Avery did the same thing.

"Flipendo tria!"

"Mortem incendia!"

Avery slashed his wand, releasing a jet of purple fire in Mason's direction just as Ginny's knockback jinx hit him, sending him flying through the air and straight into the wall. It was too late, though. Mason had already been hit, and Ginny recognized the spell. It was the same one that had almost killed Hermione in the Department of Mysteries, the one that had killed Neville during the first Battle of Hogwarts.

It didn't just cause a bad burn- it harmed internal organs, and Ginny knew better than to try to move Mason. After a short hesitation, the weary Head Girl closed her eyes and brought an image of the Weasley's last Christmas as a family to the front of her mind. Her mother, bustling around and making more delicious food than even the Weasleys could eat, her smiling father, a laughing Charlie…

"Expecto patronum!" Ginny said, and her powerful horse burst from the tip of her wand. After taking a deep breath to steady herself, she ordered, "Go tell Madam Lucas that Mason McCreery is badly hurt, and… and she needs to hurry."

The horse galloped off, and Ginny exhaustedly sunk to the floor beside Mason. Without really thinking about it, she grabbed one of his hands and gripped it tightly in her own, holding on like her grip could anchor down his soul.

Seconds, then minutes ticked by, and Ginny's fatigue increased until she could no longer keep her eyes open. The Head Girl fell into unconsciousness just as she heard footsteps echoing down the corridor.


	19. Finding Fault

"…dark magic… Mister Avery is going to have to be expelled… Mason… I do not know if he is going to make it… he's stronger than he looks… no, we can't notify his mother… unique situation…"

Ginny stirred, trying to make sense of the scattered phrases in her still achy head. Her mouth tasted dry and fuzzy, like she'd been fed a good amount of potions, and the side-effects were making her groggy.

"No, I will not wake him up... I'm honestly not even sure that I can."

"But-"

"No. Leave him be, Armando."

Angry footsteps clattered out of the room, followed by the clicking of Madam Lucas's flats. Ginny blinked several times, forcing herself more fully into consciousness as the events of… yesterday, maybe, came flooding back. Mason was hurt... badly, terribly hurt.

The Head Girl yanked her eyes open and dragged herself into a sitting position as she searched the room for her friend. He wasn't too difficult to find. His bed was surrounded by gifts, mostly first and second years, judging by the sloppy hand-writing and abundance of candy. A small smile crossed Ginny's face at that, but it faded quickly when she really looked at him.

Mason was more pale and thin than ever, the white hospital sheets draining him of any color he would have had otherwise. His curly brown hair drooped lankly onto his pillow, framing his gaunt, sickly face.

Ginny found herself climbing out of bed and stumbling into the chair next to Mason's, ignoring the lavish flowers that must have come from Abraxas, or the giant teddy bear and box of chocolates that appeared to be from her Hufflepuff friends.

"Mason?" asked Ginny softly, brushing a loose strand of hair out of his face. His skin was frighteningly cold. "Please don't die. I don't want you to die."

The Hufflepuff didn't move, but Ginny hadn't expected him to. Still exhausted, she leaned forward and rested her head on the edge of his pillow and closed her eyes. The Head Girl was asleep instantly.

…

"Ginny, wake up."

_Huh. I think I know that voice… _

"Mason!" Ginny cried, jerking her head up so quickly that she nearly fell out of her chair. Sure enough, Mason was sitting up right in front of her, pale, but very obviously alive. Ginny started to lean forward to hug him, but then pulled back, remembering that his chest still probably hurt. "You aren't dead!"

"You think?" Mason smiled, raking a hand through his disastrous head of hair. His big brown eyes were weary, but infused with warmth and life.

"Don't joke about that," said Ginny, even though her voice was saturated with relief. "I've seen that curse kill people, and you weren't moving, and Madam Lucas said that she didn't know if you'd make it, and-"

"I'm fine," Mason assured her.

"_Now_, maybe," Ginny huffed, completely out of breath.

They fell quiet for a few moments, until Mason hesitantly said, "You want to know what's going on."

"I heard your argument with Mulciber," Ginny confessed, "so I already kind of know. Some particulars would be nice, though."

Mason shook his head.

"I can't tell you. Now, or ever."

"But-" she started.

"I'm sorry. I trust you, and I want to tell you, but it's too dangerous."

Too dangerous. Ginny shook her head. It wasn't like it could possibly be any more dangerous than what she was already dealing with.

"I can handle it. You're not the only one with dangerous secrets, you know."

Mason locked eyes with her, and Ginny could tell that he wasn't going to budge. With a small sigh, Ginny gave Mason a soft hug and forced a smile.

"Okay, fine. I'll forget about it for now, but at least think about telling me _sometime_."

He opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off by Madam Lucas's cry of, "Mister McCreery, you're awake! I'm terribly sorry, Miss Peverell, but I have to check him over." The matron gave Ginny a quick once over, and continued, "You're good to go. You simply had a small bout of the wizarding flu, made worse by stress of some sort… studying too much, probably. You can return to your common room now."

"Er, okay," Ginny said, backing away as the matron rushed her from the room. She waved at Mason one more time, then ducked out of the hospital wing.

…

Riddle and his Death Eaters were in the middle of one of their powwows when Ginny ducked into Head's common room. They were all there, except Avery, standing in a stiff circle and wearing dark robes. Every pair of eyes flew to her when she entered.

Ginny sighed, more annoyed than scared. She knew most of the students, and very few of them could cast a potent stupefy, let alone perform any terrifying dark magic.

"Don't mind me," Ginny said cheerfully, skirting her way past Raul Lestrange, a humongous dark-haired sixth year with pale skin and black holes for eyes. "Continue making your plans for world domination."

She started to jog up her staircase, doing her best to ignore all of the staring, when Riddle called, "I need to speak to you, Peverell. We were just _finishing up_."

It was almost funny, how quickly the Death Eaters all darted away, leaving Ginny alone with Riddle.

The Hufflepuff was vaguely worried that the Head Boy was angry at her for cursing Avery, but he didn't _look _mad.

_As if that means anything, _Ginny thought sarcastically as she plopped into her usual chair.

"Alright," she said. "What do you want?"

"You're looking better," Riddle said apathetically, blatantly ignoring Ginny's inquiry.

"Er, yeah. Loads of potions, almost a full day of bed rest." Ginny said. Then, thinking of Riddle's efforts to help her the day before, she added, "And you. You helped a bunch, too."

Riddle shrugged.

"Blatantly ignoring your illness would have been too noticeable. It was for no reason other than to keep up my reputation," he said coolly.

Ginny didn't buy it for a second. Riddle had given her one of his personal potions, and had pretty much ordered her to the hospital wing. Maybe he hadn't been concerned, per se, but he _had_ tried to make her more comfortable, and that was definitely something.

"I don't believe you," said Ginny. "I think that you're starting to get used to my cheerful helpfulness, and that you were _worried _when my wonderful personality was temporarily out of commission."

Riddle's face twisted into a sneer. "I was not worried about you. If you're going to make such a big deal out of it, next time I will not help you at all."

"Or by next time, we'll already be such good friends that you'll walk me to the hospital wing yourself, stay by my bedside all night, and bring me lots of candy," suggested Ginny.

"I would kill myself first."

_That would be really helpful, actually. _

"You just keep telling yourself that," said Ginny. "Now, enough arguing. Did you need something from me?"

Riddle sighed and dully said, "One of my servants nearly killed your friend, and he would have hurt you, as well, if you did not hex him first. Is this correct?"

"Uh-huh," Ginny said, having absolutely no idea where Riddle was headed with this.

Steely gray eyes fixed on her with an indeterminable expression.

"Aren't you going to press me for an explanation? I had expected you to be angry with me," Riddle said.

Ginny started slightly; she hadn't thought about Riddle's part in the whole thing, but he would have had to have had something to do with it. Avery was following _his _orders, after all.

"I… hadn't even thought about it," said Ginny slowly, doing her best not to freak out. She had to act like she trusted Riddle, to treat him like a friend. It was the only way to get him to do the same thing to her.

Riddle appeared surprised, but schooled his expression quickly. "You are angry now though, aren't you?"

"Er. I don't know," swallowed Ginny. "I… just know that Avery was trying to get information out of Mason, and that that information was probably for you, but I don't know how far you wanted him to go to get that information."

The Head Boy nodded slowly, not taking his piercing eyes off of Ginny's face. "You don't think that I'm foolish, do you, Peverell?"

"Uh, no," said Ginny confusedly.

"And you would agree that it would be foolish to mistreat somebody that you want something from, wouldn't you?"

Seeing where he was coming from, Ginny nodded, her posture already relaxing slightly.

"Good. So you realize that I would be an idiot if I ordered Avery to hit McCreery with a potentially deadly curse? A curse that, if someone stronger had used it, would have killed the source of the information that I so desperately need."

"Yes," said Ginny. "I… I guess that would be kind of stupid."

"He acted against my orders," added Riddle. "He was supposed to get your friend to volunteer the information. I did not want it to be forced out of him."

Even knowing how good Riddle was at lying, Ginny didn't doubt that he was telling the truth. Voldemort didn't force people to do things for him; he sweet-talked them into serving him under their own free will. Torture was almost always used only as a backup plan.

"Okay," said Ginny, struggling not to sound surprised. "I believe you. I know that Avery's a little off his rocker, anyway. Er, can I ask you one thing, though?"

"I am not telling you what information I am trying to get from Mason McCreery."

_Damn. _

"That wasn't what I was going to ask," lied Ginny. Thinking quickly, she supplied, "I just wanted to know what happened to Avery."

Riddle obviously didn't believe her, but answered, "He was expelled. Aaron Greengrass has taken his spot as the Slytherin sixth year prefect."

"Wow. I bet that makes you mad, another rich Slytherin moving up through the system. You're going to get pretty lonely at our prefect meetings, you know."

"Something tells me that you would not let me be lonely, even if I wanted to be," said Riddle tonelessly. He didn't sound very happy about it at all.

Ginny smiled at him anyway.

"Of course not, silly. I need to show you the benefits of having friends. Now, I'm exhausted. Do you have anything else to tell me?"

Riddle shook his head, and Ginny skipped back up to her room to get some much needed rest.


	20. Rich and Poor

A few days later, Ginny found herself in the hospital wing, sitting next to Mason's bed with her Transfiguration book in her lap. Mason was a genius at revising essays, and he'd admittedly been bored for the last few days, so she figured that it would benefit the both of them.

"You're my best friend, you know that, right?" asked Ginny as she cheerfully pulled out her mostly-completed, extremely wrinkled essay. Mason's face scrunched up in distaste, but his eyes were smiling, so Ginny knew that he wasn't really bothered by her appeal for help. "Great. It's basically done, but I'm terrible at organizing my paragraphs, so if you would be so kind as to look it over for me…"

"I don't mind, Ginny. Really," Mason interrupted. Ginny grinned at him and thrust the paper into his hands.

"Thank you. And don't worry, once that's all corrected, I'll catch you up on all the latest details of my wonderfully exciting life. It'll be a perfectly fair payment."

"Sure it will," snorted Mason, already distractedly looking over the parchment.

"You know you love my stories. Abraxas amuses you, you think Allison is absolutely hilarious, and hearing about Riddle's ceaseless quest to become the perfect Head Boy has to provide some sort of entertainment."

Mason's head jerked up towards the end of her sentence, and it looked like he really wanted to say something, but he didn't even open his mouth before looking back down at her essay.

Ginny stared at her friend, waiting for him to reorder his thoughts, or whatever it was he was trying to do, but Mason seemed to have decided not to speak at all. Figuring that he wanted her to forget about it, the Head Girl sighed and began paging through her Transfiguration book.

A good amount of time passed in complete silence, so Ginny was more than a little surprised when Mason spoke up almost ten minutes later.

"Do you really not know?" he asked, his voice almost… urgent. Ginny looked up from her book in confusion.

"Know?" asked Ginny confusedly. "About what?"

Mason's eyes scanned the room as if making sure that they were alone before he quietly said, "Tom Riddle."

Ginny started at the mention of the Head Boy's name, but recovered quickly. Right. Mason knew what Riddle was like, and he probably wasn't impressed with Ginny's apparent… friendship?... with him.

The Head Girl hesitated unsurely, then decided that letting Mason worry about her would be mean. If she only told him a _tiny _bit, she wouldn't really be betraying Riddle at all.

"Do I not know that he's the spawn of Satan?" Ginny asked nonchalantly "No, actually I'm pretty familiar with that aspect of his personality."

Mason's eyes shone with surprise.

"Then why…?"

Why did she dance with him, and talk with him, and ditch her friends whenever he asked her to, and partner up with him for the orphan project… she could see the questions written across Mason's features.

"Remember when I said that you weren't the only one with dangerous secrets?" asked Ginny.

Mason stared at her for a few moments before he slowly said, "I … yes, I remember, but…"

"I can't tell you," she confessed.

The hospital wing fell quiet until Mason, looking straight at Ginny, asked, "You aren't one of his followers, are you?"

"_What?" _blurted Ginny, completely shocked. She started to snap at Mason for even thinking that something like that was possible, but stopped herself when she saw the repentant look on his face. His doubts only meant that she was doing her job well. It was what he was supposed to think. "Er, sorry. I guess it could kind of look like we're besties or something, but I swear that I'm not tricking you."

"Sorry," apologized Mason. "It's just-"

Ginny smiled at him. "It's fine. I would've thought the same thing." Then, sensing the end of the discussion, she casually asked, "So, did I get the theory behind the protean charm right?"

Mason shot her a grateful expression and nodded. "Yeah, it was perfect."

…

The leaves were starting to turn a beautiful array of fiery reds and golden yellows, the air had the perfect crisp chill that Ginny loved, and a harvest moon was due to find its way into the sky sometime that evening. It would have been a perfect night to sneak out and go on a walk with Abraxas, or even go up to the astronomy tower to look at the stars.

Instead, Ginny was forced to shove herself into the only formal dress Dumbledore had packed for her and spend the beautiful evening locked away in the dungeons with _Slughorn_. To make things worse, Mason was still in the hospital wing; Ginny would be the only Hufflepuff there.

"Peverell! Your godforsaken boyfriend is outside, and I have no qualms over killing him if he does not stop knocking within the next ten seconds!"

"Well," muttered Ginny, hastily grabbing her wand and stumbling across the room in her uncomfortable shoes, "I suppose that's my cue."

Ginny rushed out the door, nearly fell down the staircase, and landed neatly in front of an angry Tom Riddle. The first thing that she noticed was that he wasn't following Slughorn's semi-formal dress code. He was still wearing his frayed school robes.

Riddle noticed the direction of Ginny's gaze and promptly opened his mouth, no doubt to give her some venomous comment, but Ginny hastily said, "You look good, Riddle."

Then she ducked her head, an uncomfortable heat spreading across her cheeks. It wouldn't have been so bad if her words had been related to the mission somehow, but they weren't. Ginny had complimented the Head Boy out of nothing more than _pity_. There was something eerily sad about Voldemort not being able to afford dress robes.

"Lying doesn't become you, Peverell," Riddle retorted. Abraxas knocked again, and the Heir of Slytherin's hands clenched into fists. Ginny glared at the portrait hole, willing her stupid boyfriend to shut up before he got himself killed.

"I wasn't lying," Ginny said to Riddle. "You really don't look that bad."

Then she spun around and opened the portrait, where a red-faced Abraxas was waiting impatiently, his hand already raised to start pounding again.

"I thought that rich purebloods were supposed to be sophisticated," said Ginny. "Apparently I was wrong."

Abraxas rolled his eyes and said, "I was just eager to meet you, Ginny. Can you really fault me on that?"

"Nope, I think _that's _sweet. I can, however, find fault with you doing it just to make Riddle angry."

"How dare you accuse me-" Abraxas started.

"Don't even try it," said Ginny.

Abraxas laughed, and the two of them continued their light banter up until they reached the dungeons. Slughorn's office had been magically expanded, the door widened into a type of grand entrance, with an enormous wooden table sitting directly in the middle.

Slughorn came hustling over the second that Abraxas and Ginny set foot in the room.

"Ginevra, Abraxas," he cooed. "Such a lovely couple. I am so glad that you could make it. Now, if you'll look just over there, you'll see Walter Tessman, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. A great, powerful man. He's Raymond Tessman's father, you see, and he agreed to honor us with his company. He was one of my students just a few years ago, such a brilliant…"

"Sir," interrupted Abraxas, "Ginny has been feeling quite ill all week, and I fear that she's feeling slightly lightheaded. You won't be too offended if we take our seats, will you?"

"Oh, no," Slughorn said emphatically. "Go right ahead. I wouldn't want the Head Girl to faint! No, it's no problem. Ah, there's Tom! I am sure that he would love to discuss the recent elections with me. Yes, yes, I will see you two later."

Then the beast of a man waddled off to speak with Tom Riddle, prompting Ginny to release a relieved breath.

"Come on," she whispered, grabbing Abraxas's hand and dragging him towards the large table. "Before he comes back."

Abraxas laughed, but eagerly complied, following her over to where Orion was sitting with Walburga more or less in his lap.

Orion gave Ginny a rakish grin, looking absolutely dazzling in silky green robes. One of the diamonds on his hand had to rival the value of the Stone of Eons. It was the first time that she had seen him not trying to look purposely disheveled, and she could see why. The shock factor was amazing. Orion Black looked like a king.

"Five thousand galleons," Abraxas said, nodding his head at Orion's enormous ring. "He could buy half of Hogsmeade with it."

"Merlin," Ginny breathed. Even with the snitch-sized emerald around her chest, she felt slightly out of place. She was a _Weasley _for Merlin's sake. What was she doing hanging out with a guy wearing a diamond like that? "That's… unbelievable."

Abraxas shrugged and held out a chair for her. "My mother has a tiara worth nearly as much, and I've seen that necklace you wear all the time. All good pureblood families have something of worth to pass down. Ryan's is just bigger than most."

Ginny had to resist the urge to make a face at Abraxas's indirect insult. The most expensive artifact that the Weasleys had was a cheap necklace, and, in Abraxas's mind, that meant they weren't a 'good' pureblood family. He _probably _wouldn't have said it if he knew, but still… his insult and the talk about insanely expensive gems made her uncomfortable.

"Yeah," she said. "I suppose."

Abraxas nodded and started to say something else, but Slughorn cut him off with a call for attention. The oaf gave a short welcome speech, clapped his hands, then hurriedly sat down to get first dibs at the food that had magically appeared across the table.

Ginny normally would have been hungry (she was a Weasley, after all), but between Slughorn's eating habits and the over-abundance of Slytherins that surrounded her, she didn't have much of an appetite.

"Are you still feeling ill?" Abraxas asked at one point. Ginny shook her head, not wanting him to worry about her.

"No, I'm fine," she said. "Just a little tired."

Abraxas took her hand and squeezed it gently. "Well, you just got out of the hospital wing. Maybe we could leave early, if you-"

Walter Tessman's rumbling voice cut Abraxas off.

"It was your idea, wasn't it, Miss Peverell?"

Ginny jerked her head up to find the Ministry Head giving her an expectant look. "Er. What?"

Several people snickered, and Ginny did her best to keep her cheeks from turning bright red. Abraxas glared at all of them.

"I asked if you were the one who proposed the idea to aid the orphans. Everyone in the Ministry has been talking about how great it is to see the future of the wizarding world taking so many steps to help those who need it."

The gray-haired man stroked his impressive beard as he waited for a blushing Ginny's answer.

"Well…" Ginny started. She was tempted to lie to save herself the embarrassment of contradicting him, but Riddle met her gaze from across the table just before she was about to speak. He was waiting for her to lie. Ginny smirked as she continued, "No, it wasn't my idea. Another prefect, Erin Stevens, came up with it."

Abraxas muttered something under his breath that Ginny was glad she couldn't hear, Riddle fixed her with a strange look that she wished she _could _interpret, and Tessman's bushy eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. "Stevens… I don't believe that I have heard that name before."

Ginny opened her mouth to speak, but a fourth year Slytherin beat her to it. To her dismay, she realized that it was Raymond Tessman, Walter's stuck-up son.

"She's a Mud-Muggleborn, father," the rat-faced boy said snottily. "One of the only good ideas that their kind will come up with all year, I'm sure of it."

The Head Girl was on her feet the moment that Raymond's words sunk in, exclaiming, "_You have got to be kidding_!" Abraxas pulled at her arm, blue eyes pleading with her to sit down, but Ginny's temper was flaring and nothing was going to stop her from saying exactly what she thought Raymond Tessman needed to hear. "You're one of the stupidest students at Hogwarts… you have no right, absolutely no right, to insult anyone's intelligence like that, let alone a prefect's!"

Both Tessmans got to their feet, and Slughorn sunk back into his chair like he was about to witness an entertaining show. Abraxas wouldn't stop hissing at Ginny to "_Sit down"_. Ginny ignored him.

"Did you just call my son _stupid_?" Tessman bellowed

"Yes," said Ginny, flashing him a saccharine smile. "I did."

"Why… you filthy little blood traitor. A disgrace, an absolute disgrace!" said Tessman in disgust. "Defending a Mudblood…" He shook his head. "I know the name Peverell… your ancestors were geniuses… they would be ashamed of your behavior. If Riddle wasn't such a shining example of a good student, I'd accuse Dippet of playing favorites… a Hufflepuff blood traitor! _What _was the headmaster thinking?"

Ginny opened her mouth to speak, but Cassiopeia beat her to it.

"Riddle? A shining example?" she drawled. Riddle's face was pale white, his eyes burning with fury that he couldn't conceal, and he started to interrupt, to bring an end to the conversation, but Cassiopeia spoke before he could. "Mister Tessman, I'm afraid that you are unaware that sweet little Ginny is actually quite superior to Tom Riddle."

"I really think-" began Riddle coldly.

"What are you talking about?" Tessman asked.

Slughorn's face was red with delight.

"He's a Mudblood," Cassiopeia said loudly, speaking clearly so that everyone heard her. "He's from a _Muggle _orphanage, and he has a _Muggle_ last name. Ask him who his father was, who his father's parents were, and he will refuse to tell you. He. Has. No. Bloodline."

Ginny took in several things at once. The unchecked rage brimming in Riddle's eyes, Cassiopeia's smug smile, and the wands coming out of Lestrange and Yaxley's pockets.

One possible solution came to mind, and even though it was stupid, Ginny acted completely on instinct.

The Hufflepuff flew out of her seat and flung herself across the table, landing right in front of Cassiopeia Black. Lestrange checked himself before he fired any curses, but Yaxley had to change the trajectory of his spell at the last second, sending a bright yellow curse right into the expensive glass chandelier the hung over the table.

Ginny, who was still lying on the table, covered in spilled drinks and chunks of food, closed her eyes and waited for shards of glass to come crashing down on top of her, but nothing ever did.

After a tense second, the Head Girl cracked her eyes open to find Tom Riddle on his feet, wand out. Pieces of glass were frozen in the air, some of them only a few inches away from Ginny's back. It was a few seconds before she realized what Riddle had done for her.

"I… I… Riddle, "she breathed.

Slughorn stood and, finally having the grace to be embarrassed at the result of his meeting, declared, "I believe that this meal is finished. You may all return to your dorms."

Ginny released a deep breath and rolled off the table, taking care not to touch Cassiopeia as she shakily got to her feet. Abraxas was at her elbow in a second, but she only gave him a short look before scouring the room for Tom Riddle. He had kept the chandelier from falling right on top of her, and she _needed _to thank him, Dark Lord or not.

Unfortunately, he had already disappeared. Ginny turned her attention back to Abraxas.

"You could have kept your mouth shut," he said, his voice disproving. Ginny swallowed and looked at her feet. He was right. It would have been a lot more mature, not to mention less stupid, to just stay quiet.

"I'm sorry," Ginny said. "Really."

Abraxas laughed and kissed her, pulling a squished up slice of banana from her hair as he stepped back. "It's fine. I've never liked Tessman anyway. Besides, you're really pretty when your eyes light up like that."

"And you're amazing," Ginny said, her voice laced with relief. She leaned forward and quickly pecked his lips. "I really need to go shower now. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Abraxas said, grinning lazily. "I'll see you tomorrow.


	21. Pleasant Surprises

As soon as Ginny woke up the next morning, she marched down to the common room, planted herself in her usual chair, and began waiting.

She had wanted to thank Riddle last night, but he had disappeared into his room before she had the chance, and there was no way that Ginny was dumb enough to try dragging him out. After Cassiopeia's announcement concerning his heritage, Riddle would have bitten her head off. Ginny only prayed that he had cooled off over the course of the night.

A few minutes passed, and Ginny started to get bored. Riddle usually came out of his room around seven, at least on Saturdays, and returned at exactly eight o'clock to do his homework. His timing was infallible.

The minute hand rested above the one. It was 8:05.

More time passed. 8:10, 8:15… Ginny picked up one of Riddle's books on the dark arts and began paging through it. By the time that she was done looking over a passage on the skin-melting curse, it was 8:34.

Just as Ginny started wondering if she should go looking for the Head Boy, an _upstairs_ door slammed shut. She whirled around, gaping when Tom Riddle descended his staircase. He had never even left his room!

"It's 8:34," Ginny blurted, unable to stop herself. "According to your schedule, you are showered and ready by seven every Saturday morning, and return to our common room at exactly eight o'clock. You do not sleep in. What is going on?"

Riddle locked gazes with her. He had dark circles under his eyes, and his posture wasn't as impeccable as usual. Sure, his clothes were anything but rumpled, and it looked like he had already showered sometime that morning, but his drained countenance suggested that he hadn't slept very well.

"I find it odd that you have memorized the time that I go down to breakfast every Saturday," Riddle said dully, ignoring Ginny and beginning to leave the room. The Head Girl was on her feet in an instant. He was _not _going to run from this.

"We share a common room," retorted Ginny. "I can hear you go in and out of the portrait hole. Now, answer my question. What's wrong?"

Riddle continued on his way as if she hadn't spoken. Annoyed, Ginny rushed forward and jumped in front of the exit just before Riddle reached it. The Head Boy's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Move right now, or I will move you myself."

Ginny stood up taller and took a deep breath.

"It's because of the Mudblood thing, isn't it?" she asked.

The weariness in Riddle's eyes changed to anger, and Ginny didn't miss the way that his breathing got just a little bit faster. "I am not a Mudblood," he said angrily.

"I… I don't believe you," Ginny replied. When Riddle's face started shutting down, his emotions fading away more and more every second, she hurriedly continued, "Cassiopeia made good points, even if I hate to admit it. You know I don't care, though, right? If you want, I can even vouch for you, say that our fathers knew each other or something. A lot of people don't like Cassiopeia; they'd believe us over her, I'm pretty sure."

Riddle's increasing tension reached its peak, and a forced, "I. Am. Not. A. Mudblood.," escaped clenched teeth.

Ginny was pushing Riddle, probably farther than she ever had before, but she felt like the outcome of this conversation was really important. Riddle seemed to be on the fence between enjoying her company and merely tolerating her presence, and Ginny had to tip him over onto the right side.

"Riddle," said Ginny. Her voice shook a little at first, and she took a deep breath to steady it. "I… I'm not stupid. Riddle is not a pureblood name. So what? Didn't you see Lestrange and Yaxley last night? They didn't believe Cassiopeia for a second, they stood up to _defend _you. As for everyone else, no one _cares. _Slytherin is the only house that gives a hippogriff's arse about blood purity, and the ones who would fault you for having a Muggle father already hate you anyway.

"If it really means that much to you, I _will _help stop the rumors, but for Merlin's sake, don't get pissy at me. I didn't do anything wrong."

The Head Boy grew so quiet that Ginny was sure that she had made some huge mistake. She couldn't even bring herself to look at his face because she was so scared. He'd curse her in five… four… three… two… one…

Ginny blinked and looked up. Tom Riddle did not have his wand out, but was instead staring at her incredulously.

Tom Riddle was _staring _at her _incredulously. _As in, in amazement. Not the bad kind of amazement either, but the good kind. The kind that did not belong on Lord Voldemort's face.

Riddle saw her looking and quickly schooled his features, but it was too late. Ginny had seen.

Maybe he hadn't been happy, or impressed, or even pleased, but he had been pleasantly surprised, and that was way more than anything that she had gotten out of him before.

"Why…," began Riddle, not taking his eyes from Ginny's face, "would you help me? What would you get in return?"

It was sad that Riddle was so unfamiliar with the concept of receiving help.

"I would get the satisfaction of knowing that I helped improve your state of mind," Ginny said, infusing her voice with her ever-present Hufflepuff cheer. "Honestly. I just want to help you to help you. I'm a Hufflepuff, not a Slytherin."

Shaking his head, the Head Boy said, "I do not understand you."

"You don't have to understand me to trust me," said Ginny. Riddle looked right into her eyes, searching impeccably carefully. Impossibly, it seemed like he found something to reassure him (Ginny had no idea what, but she wasn't complaining), and his expression softened the tiniest bit.

"Then, I would… appreciate your help," said Riddle calculatingly.

"Alright, I'll help you then. But… and I know you won't like this, but would there be anything wrong with even _considering _just telling the truth?-"

"Yes-" Ginny pretended that she hadn't heard him.

"You're brilliant, Riddle. The most intelligent, most talented student in the school," she half-lied. "I really think it's apparent that blood purity doesn't make an ounce of difference. Anyone who thinks so is stupid-"

"Your godforsaken boyfriend-" started Riddle, his expression hardening again. Ginny snorted.

"Is a bigot. Now, as I was saying, why not just tell everyone that you're a half-blood? I personally think that it'll just boost your likable image. It'll make you seem human."

Riddle shook his head, and Ginny internally sighed. The Head Boy usually at least _considered_ her ideas, but he wasn't budging on this one.

"The only way to keep my followers fighting for my cause is to keep up the pretense of wanting to cleanse the earth of Muggle filth. Do you think that they would continue fighting if they knew my true heritage?"

_Oh, right… _thought Ginny. She'd forgotten about his whole 'take over the world' thing. In an ideal world, she supposed that Riddle would ditch the Death Eaters and proclaim his half-Muggle lineage to the world, but that wasn't even the tiniest bit realistic.

"Whoops," Ginny apologized quickly. "I forgot. I'll just help you out then. I'll tell Abraxas that my father was friends with a Riddle… back when my dad lived in… Ireland. None of those purebloods will know any Irish blood-lines, I'm almost sure of it. I'll say that your father died and your mother went to London, but she got sick and left you at an orphanage just before she croaked too."

A smirk crossed Riddle's face, and Ginny was relieved to see that all of the tension had left the Head Boy's posture. "You really should have been a Slytherin, Peverell. Even being… you."

Ginny shot him a genuine grin. Even if she didn't like being called Slytherin-like, she knew that Tom Riddle had just given her a compliment... a real compliment. Maybe the first that he had given anyone. Ever.

"Thanks, Riddle," she said. "Really. And now that it doesn't look like you're ready to run away from me, I have something else to say to you, too."

"And that would be?" he asked, looking slightly suspicious.

Ginny smiled.

"Thank you," she said warmly. "For stopping that chandelier. It was… one of the nicest things that anyone has ever done for me," she finished.

It was true. Ginny could have been killed. For all intents and purposes, Tom Riddle had saved her life.

Of course, he hadn't put himself at any risk to save her, like Harry had, but still. His actions came in a distant second.

And… Riddle obviously didn't believe her. Without even considering Ginny's words, he let out a low snort and rolled his eyes.

"It was nothing," Riddle said roughly. "_Now _will you please let me go to breakfast?"

_Did he just say 'please?' _

"Go ahead," said Ginny, stepping out of his way. "Remember my story, by the way. If anyone decides to bug you, just tell them that good old… Arthur Peverell was best buddies with… Tom Riddle Senior. _I _wouldn't lie."

Riddle only shook his head and stepped past her. Ginny turned around and started to head back to her room, but a smooth, "Thank you," stopped her. The Head Girl whirled around so fast that she nearly tripped, but Riddle was already gone, the portrait hole clicking shut behind him.

…

"I swear to Merlin, Riddle's father was super good friends with mine," Ginny said emphatically. Orion Black did not look convinced.

"I don't believe you," he drawled, leaning back dangerously far in his chair. Ginny's eyes shifted from the Arithimancy assignment they had been working on together, to the legs of the chair, which were slowly shifting backwards. "Abraxas doesn't either. He knows that you're covering Riddle's arse."

Ginny snorted; that wasn't surprising.

"Both of you are thickheaded chauvinists," she replied. Orion, following Ginny's gaze, shot her a smirk, leaned back an inch further, and tipped forward again. His feet settled easily back on the ground.

"That's no way to talk about your boyfriend, and especially no way to talk about me," Orion said smoothly. Ginny forced herself to hold her tongue until he was finished. "We aren't _chauvinists, _per se. We just have standards, something that you seem to have very little understanding of."

"Standards?" laughed Ginny. "I think you've forgotten that Erin and Mason are both Muggleborns, and yet, they somehow managed to become prefects when you couldn't. If anything, it's us purebloods that are less talented."

Orion let out a loud, bark-like laugh, earning him a reproachful look from Professor Lucas. The Slytherin was completely oblivious. "Stevens got the job because Dippet liked her 'character', not because of any talent on her part. And McCreery, well, you know that he's no Mudblood."

Ginny's annoyance faded, her fill attention suddenly on a smirking Orion.

Did _everyone _know about Mason except for her?

"What are you talking about?" she hissed, lowering her voice. Mason had gotten out of the hospital wing the day before, and was sitting only a couple of rows behind them.

"His father was, I'll admit, a Muggle," drawled Orion. He leaned back in his chair again, rocking himself backwards. "His mother, though, was a Bagshot. You can't get any more wizarding than that."

"Wait," Ginny said. Bathilda _Bagshot_ was the author of _A History of Magic. _There was such a narrow variety of pureblood families that she had to be related to Mason somehow. Of course, that wasn't as important as Orion was making it out to be. What would it matter if Mason was related to an old lady? There was something she was missing, there had to be. "There's more to this than I'm realizing, isn't there?" Ginny asked.

"Clearly," said Orion. His smirk was slowly getting bigger. "I wouldn't mind telling you, though. The story is really quite interesting. A dead father, a cowardly mother, and-"

A bell dinged above them, and Professor Lucas announced, "Class dismissed. Have those assignments done by Thursday."

"Don't forget, Ginevra," said Orion. "Our worksheet is due Thursday. Make sure you do a good job."

"What about that wonderful story you were telling me?" asked Ginny urgently.

Orion leaned back a tiny bit further.

"Ask me later. I've got an appointment with my fiancée right now, so-"

Ginny _accidentally _hit the foot of his chair as she stood up to leave, and Orion was sent tumbling to the floor. She smirked at him on her way out of the classroom.

...

Later that evening, Ginny sat herself in her cozy yellow chair and settled a shiny black notebook in her lap, opening to the first blank page.

Across the top, she scrawled, _What I Know About Mason McCreery. _

Then Ginny stopped. There was a lot of stuff that she knew about Mason. He had pretty eyes, she'd never heard him laugh, he was always kind-of smiling, he was great at Charms and terrible at Herbology, he was insanely quiet… but none of those things were significant. Even the information that she had collected over the past few weeks wasn't necessarily important. What did being related to an author, or having an accent, or lying about his blood-heritage, contribute to his worth in Riddle's eyes?

It was like she was trying to put together a puzzle of a lion, using pieces that were from a puzzle of a mouse. Even if she got all the pieces to fit together like they were supposed to, she still wouldn't end up with the right picture.

Maybe she needed to quit trying to figure out Mason's crazy past and focus on what was going on inside his curly-haired head instead… Then again, maybe the answers _were _hidden in his past, and her problem wasn't that she had the wrong puzzle pieces, but that she just didn't have enough of the right ones.

If that was the case, Ginny had the problem of finding more pieces. Orion obviously had quite a few, but playing senseless mind games with him would be a waste of time. Abraxas would probably tell her, but she doubted that he knew half as much as Orion did. Of course, it wouldn't be too much trouble to ask, just in case. She didn't have any other options.

Yes, decided Ginny. She would talk to Abraxas.

The Hufflepuff shut her notebook and moved to stand up, but the portrait hole creaked open just as she was getting to her feet. Riddle regally stepped through, closed the door behind him, and looked right at her.

"Stay a moment," he said, nodding towards the chair she had just vacated. "Our charity project has written to us, and I wish to compose a reply before the… meeting that I have scheduled tonight."

"Oh, yay. Your friends are coming. Can I join you?" Ginny asked friendlily, sitting back down. She could save her conversation with Abraxas for later; keeping Riddle happy was more important.

"No, you cannot come," Riddle said coolly. "You would provide an unnecessary distraction. Now, would you like to read the letter, or shall I simply take care of this business without you?"

"No, no," Ginny said hastily. "I promise I won't make any more crazy suggestions... So, how 'bout that letter?"

The Head Boy handed it to her with a calm smile. It was open within seconds.

"Have you read it yet?" Ginny asked Riddle. The Head Boy shook his head, so Ginny began reading out loud.

"To Tom and Ginevra,

"I don't read or write too well yet, so Georgiana is helping me. She's my best friend, and she can spell real good. She says to tell you hi from her. I think that you would both really like her. She is very nice. I think that you are both really nice too, and me and Georgie agreed that…"Ginny trailed off for a moment, then shook her head and finished, looking right at Riddle, "there probably aren't any angels that are as nice as you are. I hope that you write again. Georgie says that you want to help me, and no one has ever really helped me before. I hope I don't do something wrong to make you not want to help me. We have arts and crafts, and I'm making you presents to show you how happy I am to have such great friends.

"Please write back,

"Sinceraly, Addie."

Ginny closed the letter and locked eyes with Riddle, smiling, but feeling like crying at the same time. Then she saw the Head Boy's face.

He looked disinterested.

"That child is too naïve for an orphan," Riddle drawled. His hands were busy digging through his bag. Ginny stared at him as he pulled out a piece of paper and an almost-broken quill. "She's going to come crashing back down to earth very, very soon."

"Riddle!" Ginny cried. "She called you an angel! Doesn't that make you just want to melt?"

The Head Boy shrugged.

"She does not know me. If she did, she would not like me. It is exactly the same with the females at this school who try to secure my attentions. The only reason they pay attention to me at all is because of ignorance. This child is no different."

"I know you, and I still like you," lied Ginny, knowing exactly what to say.

Unfortunately, nothing happened. In fact, Ginny wasn't even sure if Riddle heard her. The expression on his face didn't change one bit, and he asked, "What did you have in mind for a reply?" without missing a beat.

Ginny was tempted to repeat herself, but decided not to. She didn't want to sound too insistent, especially not on the risk of making it sound like she _like _liked him.

"Well, we can assure her that we like her, and thank her for her compliments," Ginny said. "I think she'd like it if we asked about herself, and maybe her friend, too. And… she sounds kind of lonely. Maybe we can go visit her next weekend, instead of going to Hogsmeade."

Riddle raised a dark brow. "Do you really think that your boyfriend would appreciate that?"

Happy that he didn't outright deny her, Ginny cheerfully said, "Oh, don't worry about him. Abraxas won't have any problem with it at all."

He wouldn't, either. Abraxas was too confident to be the jealous type.

"Very well then," Riddle said. "We will go to London next weekend."

Ginny beamed. Not only would she get to meet Addison, but she'd also be able to get a whole lot of extra time to convince Riddle of her unwavering friendship.

She couldn't wait.


	22. Unexpected Happenings

"The Harpies?" scoffed Abraxas. He carelessly dumped his half-open bag on the floor of the Head's common room and plopped down on an emerald green love seat. Ginny noticed his potions book slide out of his bag, but was too into their argument to tell him. "But they're terrible."

"Hey," protested Ginny. She tossed a pillow at him before taking her own seat. "They happen to be my favorite team, and they're a lot better than the _Falcons." _

Abraxas shook his head furiously.

"The Falcons could beat the Harpies any day-"

"Yeah," interrupted Ginny. "By cheating. In case you did not read the Prophet yesterday, the Falcons lead the league in penalties, while the Harpies don't lead them in anything but… oh, yeah, _wins_."

"All of them lucky as hell, too," Abraxas said indignantly. "They've got Reynolds at seeker, who's absolutely unstoppable. Of course they're going to win. All of their other positions are trash, though."

"You just say that because you're jealous," said Ginny, leaning back and putting her feet up on the coffee table. If Riddle had been in the common room, he would have killed her, but he wasn't, so she felt free to do as she pleased. "If you weren't so _blind, _you would realize that the Harpies are an amazing team, and that you should really, really, really get me a stuffed Harpy for my birthday."

"It would be a disgrace to buy one," Abraxas said, scrunching his nose in disgust. "Are you sure something else wouldn't be more tolerable…? Like a stuffed Falcon?"

"I would burn it," Ginny retorted. "Now… how about that Harpy?"

Abraxas tried staring her down, but Ginny was the master at deflecting scary Slytherin stares. They had a glare-off for a moment, and then Abraxas looked away with a sigh.

"Fine. I'll get you a stuffed Harpy, if it means that much to you. Do you want to pick one out in Hogsmeade this weekend?"

Ginny absentmindedly took her hair out its ponytail, and stuffed the hair tie in her pocket.

"Can't," she said dismissively, shaking her hair out so that it fell in a fiery curtain down her back. "I'm visiting my orphan in London with Riddle. Charity work, you know? Maybe if I can get back early, though, we can-"

"Come on," interrupted Abraxas, using a tone that caused Ginny's head to jerk in his direction. "You aren't _required _to visit your orphan. There would have been nothing wrong with saying that you didn't want to go."

Ginny thought back to her and Riddle's conversation the day before. She hadn't thought anything of it when Riddle had asked if Abraxas would approve of their trip to London, but apparently she should have.

"But I _do_ want to go," Ginny said, trying and failing to keep her tone light. "I told you about how friendly she was, and I didn't think that you'd have a problem with it. Besides, we never even made actual plans to do anything-"

"That doesn't mean that you can run off with another guy."

"_Riddle_?" spluttered Ginny. She let out a weak laugh, then reached over and patted Abraxas's arm. "You aren't jealous of _him_, are you? We're just friends, Abraxas. For crying out loud, calm down!"

The blond Slytherin closed his eyes and took one breath, then another, before stiffly saying, "I do not care if you are _just friends. _I do not get along with him at all, and yet… you spend more of your time with _him _than you do with me."

Ginny clenched her hands into fists. "We share a common room. We have Head duties together. _Maybe_, if you would have been smart enough to get Head Boy, I _would _be spending that time with you!

"_What _did you just say?" Abraxas asked, jumping to his feet. Ginny stood up, too.

"I didn't mean it like that," she said quickly, still hoping to avoid a big fight. "I just don't like it when you're mad at me for something I can't control. Maybe I am friends with Riddle, but I wouldn't spend _as _much time with him if we weren't Heads together."

"You didn't have to go around covering for him after Slughorn's party," Abraxas retorted. "You didn't have to let yourself be partnered with him for this whole stupid orphan thing, and you definitely don't have to defend him right now. It isn't _just _Head's stuff."

Even if Ginny trusted Abraxas enough to give him the reason that she _had _to do those things, she wouldn't have. He was acting stupid and ridiculous and Ginny shouldn't have needed to explain anything.

"I wasn't _covering _for him," she said heatedly, "I was telling the truth. As for being partnered with him, I didn't argue because it wasn't a big deal! Unlike you, I don't blow things of proportion! And, in case you don't realize it, I'm defending Riddle now because you're acting like a complete arse!"

"I should be able to act like an arse to him!" argued Abraxas, his tone getting more and more venomous. "He's nothing more than a filthy Mudblood, and I can treat him however I please!"

Taking a shaky breath, Ginny stepped towards her boyfriend, not believing that he was acting like such an idiot. She'd always known he was prejudiced against Muggleborns, but his last, terrible sentence completely disgusted her.

"_If _Riddle was a Mudblood, he would still be twice the wizard you are," Ginny spat. "He's Head Boy for a reason, and if you can't see that, then you're absolutely blind."

"Twice the wizard I am? For crying out loud, Ginny, are you even hearing yourself? I'm your boyfriend! Your bloody boyfriend! You're supposed to be taking my side with these things; you're supposed to be supporting me!"

"And what about _me_?" Ginny spat. "You sure as hell weren't taking my side Friday night! Why should I take yours now? Besides, you're acting like an arrogant, bigoted, fat-headed prat! How in the hell do you expect me to take _your _side, when you're acting exactly like the man who ripped my entire family away from me!"

Abraxas backed up like he'd been shot. "What are you talking about? I'm not like Grindelwald, I'm _nothing _like Grindelwald."

"_Yes, _you are!" shrieked Ginny. "You think that you can treat people like shit just because of what kind of blood they have, and that's absolutely stupid! If I was spending time with Stefan, or Orion, or even bloody Raul Lestrange, I bet that you would not care half as much as you do about me spending time with Riddle, just because they aren't 'Mudbloods'."

"That's not true! I don't care that you spend time with that curly-haired piece of filth your house calls a prefect. McCreery is even tolerable, even though he's a hell of a lot more like Grindelwald than I'll ever be-"

"What are you talking about?"

He ignored her.

"-The reason that I don't like your 'friendship' with Riddle is because we're rivals, enemies… we hate each other. Do you have any idea how it looks, my girlfriend being so close to the person I'm supposed to hate the most?"

"I thought you said you don't care what other people think!"

"I also don't like being a hypocrite, which is exactly what you're making me! You're friends with Mudbloods, you're buddies with Riddle… you blow _me _off, for _him_! That's absolutely sickening!"

"What's _absolutely sickening, _is you!" Ginny growled back. "I thought that you weren't a normal, arse-headed Slytherin, but apparently, I was wrong. You only hide it a lot better than your friends. I just want to go and visit my stinking orphan! Is it really that big of a deal?"

"When you go with Tom Riddle, it is," retorted Abraxas, his face turning tomato red.

"Well," said Ginny, her voice getting softer and bitterer as she continued, "I'm going anyway. You can find some Slytherin whore to spend the weekend with, because, as far as I'm concerned, it doesn't matter to me anymore."

Abraxas looked like he was about ready to blow open.

"You have got to be kidding me," he laughed. "You're overreacting, Ginny! I… honestly, you're not… what the _hell_?"

"We're through, Abraxas. I think that you can show yourself out."

Abraxas opened and shut his mouth several times before finally whirling around and stomping away. That's when Ginny noticed Riddle for the first time, standing just in front of the portrait hole, looking like he wasn't sure what to do with himself. Abraxas's eyes started burning when he saw the Head Boy.

"This is _your _fault," Abraxas growled. "All your bloody fault!" He shook his head, spat at Riddle's feet, and muttered, "Diseased piece of filth," before starting to trample past him.

Riddle began to get his wand out, but Ginny was quicker, shouting, "Abraxas, wait."

The blond Slytherin froze, his body language unsure, and Ginny sprinted over to where he was standing.

"I forgot. I just want to do one more thing before you leave."

Then Ginny pulled out her wand, dug it right into his forehead, and said, "Mucus ad Naseum!"

Purple light flooded the common room, and Abraxas started cursing under his breath, clutching at his face as enormous, bat-shaped bogeys clawed their way out of his nose. When they began fluttering around his face, using their claws to scrape at his skin, he straightened up and ran, stumbling through the portrait hole and out of sight.

Ginny stayed frozen where she was, her hands shaking and her mind reeling. Abraxas's potions book still sat on the floor beside his chair.

Tears stung Ginny's eyes, but she blinked them back, doing her best to focus on her breathing, to ignore everything that she had just done.

"I… heard all of that," Riddle said slowly, causing Ginny to start a little. She had _almost _forgotten that he was there.

"Congratulations," she muttered to her feet, figuring that he'd leave if she ignored him. As long as Riddle was there, she couldn't cry, she couldn't break down; she couldn't even act like she was upset. Ginny _needed _him to go so that she could run down to the Hufflepuff common room and be comforted by her actual friends.

"No," Riddle said. He ran a hand through his hair, tilting his gaze towards the ceiling as if he couldn't bring himself to look directly at Ginny. "You broke up with him… it's my fault. Because of me. I don't get it."

"He was being an arse to you," Ginny said, speaking rather slowly. She wasn't sure what he wanted her to say. "I had to defend you."

Not because of the mission, either. She defended him because, in that single argument, Riddle had deserved her support.

"You didn't have to," Riddle said. "You do all these things for me, things you don't have to, and they all hurt you. It… why?"

_Mission. Remember the mission. _

Ginny forced a warm smile. She was having trouble keeping her tears from leaking.

"Because, Riddle. You're my friend, even if I'm not yours, and that's what friends do for each other."

Riddle shook his head, then, cautiously said, "You're trying not to cry."

"I am not," argued Ginny, blinking fast. "Abraxas was a jerk. I needed to dump him. It isn't a big deal. I don't care."

Retreating towards his staircase, the Head Boy dazedly said, "Go ahead. Cry. I… I don't… won't hold it against you. It's…"

He shook his head one more time, then turned and hastily slunk into to his room. Even though Riddle had said it was okay, Ginny didn't feel like it was right to cry in the common room, so she quickly packed up her things, pushed back her tears a little longer, and descended down to the Hufflepuff basement to spend the night in the warmest, coziest place in the school.

…

When Ginny entered the Hufflepuff common room, she hesitated near the entrance, not quite sure what to do. Now that she had actually reached the basement, with all its smiling faces and happy friendliness, she felt cold and out of place.

Then she caught Mason's eye. He smiled at her warmly, and Ginny relaxed, knowing that coming to the basement had been the right decision. Not because she needed Erin or Allison to fuss over her, but because she needed Mason to be there for her.

The Head Girl steeled a quick breath, wiped her eyes to make sure that all the tears were gone, then ducked through the other Hufflepuffs to get to her best friend. With his wooly gray sweater, soft-looking hair, and big brown eyes, Mason was everything that was warm and comforting. Ginny felt a little better just looking at him.

"Hey," said Ginny, taking a seat in the corner next to him. Mason had his nose buried in a dusty old book. The pages were covered in strange symbols that she could never dream of understanding. She made a face. "Ancient Runes. I took that class once… er, I mean, my dad tried teaching it to me, and I failed miserably. It was way too complicated."

Mason's probing eyes told her that he didn't miss her slip-up, but he didn't call her out on it. Instead, he really looked at her for the first time, and his face softened, concern flitting into his eyes.

"You were crying," Mason finally said.

Ginny scooted a little closer to him.

"Abraxas and I broke up," she confessed.

Mason didn't ask why, or how, or make any exclamations of surprise or relief. Instead, he sincerely asked, "Are you okay?"

And when Ginny shrugged, Mason tossed a friendly arm around her shoulders and let her lean into him, not saying anything, and yet saying everything. Despite all the lies and secrets and questions, he was there for her, and he wasn't going to leave.

Her eyes filling with more tears, Ginny snuggled into his soft jumper, smiling when she smelt the warm, Masony smell of spice and cocoa. It was like she was home again, like, for one moment, she was completely safe.

It wasn't five minutes later that a worried voice broke through the perfect moment, slightly too loud and high-pitched.

"Oh my gosh, Ginny! What happened? You look terrible!"

Ginny stifled a groan and looked up to see Allison in front of her, her pretty blonde hair tossed back into a lazy ponytail. Her eyes darted nervously to Mason, then rested back on Ginny, waiting for an answer.

"I broke up with Abraxas," Ginny admitted, not liking the way that the words sounded on her lips.

Allison made an overly dramatic face, then ran off, no doubt to alert all of the other Hufflepuffs of the development. Reluctantly, Ginny shrugged Mason's arm off from around her shoulders.

"They're going to come for me pretty soon," the redhead sighed. "I-" Allison returned and yanked on Ginny's arm.

"Come on. Bonnie is going to go get you some chocolate, and Virginia and I are perfectly willing to hear you complain about Abraxas for as long as you please. He's really a terrible person. It's almost better that you got rid of him. Now, come on. Bonnie will be back at any moment."

"Er, bye Mason!" Ginny called as she was towed away, waving desperately at her friend and wishing that she could have stayed by him all night.

Then Allison started prompting her about what happened, Erin arrived and did her best to calm the other girl down, and Bonnie came back with a platter of cookies, ice-cream, brownies, and hot cocoa.

At first Ginny complained that she just wanted to go to bed, but then she remembered Riddle and realized that, no matter what he said, he wouldn't be impressed by her moping. She wouldn't have any more chances to think about Abraxas, so she might as well make the most of the one that she did have.

"Come on, Gin," Allison said for the millionth time. "You just have to vent a little. I swear, it'll make you feel better."

So Ginny grabbed a brownie, took a huge bite, and then began, "All that I wanted to do was go to London with Riddle, for the orphan project, you know…"

She continued like that throughout the next hour, while all of her friends made the appropriate sympathetic noises, and she ingested twice her bodyweight in chocolate.

By the time that she was finished, Ginny actually felt a good deal better.

…

Riddle was reading when Ginny ducked back into the Head's common room early that next morning. His eyes landed on her face, probably looking for signs of excessive crying or lack of sleep, but, thanks to her friends, Ginny didn't have either.

"I switched the patrol schedule," the Head Boy said after a moment, his voice cool and apathetic. "You're with Grace Martian now. I would have put you with McCreery, but I did not think that you would have liked it if Stevens was partnered with Malfoy."

Ginny froze where she was, her overnight bag almost falling from her grasp.

_Did Riddle just say what I think he did? _

If she had heard correctly, Tom Riddle, a.k.a. Lord Voldemort, had gone out of his way to help her avoid an awkward situation, _and _had even considered the well-being of one of her friends, one of her _Muggleborn_ friends, in the process.

The Head Girl stared at Riddle, taking in his relaxed features, his not-so-stiff posture, and his almost readable eyes.

And she smiled.

"Thank you, Riddle. I really appreciate it. Dippet didn't mind, did he?"

Riddle shook his head.

"No. He did, however, remind me that Halloween is this Wednesday. The prefects are in charge of decorating for the feast, and I assured him that we would get it done this evening. I have already arranged for owls to be sent to all of the prefects. I figured that you should know as well."

"Great," said Ginny lightly. "That sounds like fun." Or at least it sounded distracting, which was almost as nice.

"Fun," muttered Riddle. Ginny laughed.

"Oh, it will be. Don't worry. Now, I should probably go get ready. Breakfast is only in a few minutes, I think. Er… see you, Riddle."

"Peverell, wait," said Riddle.

Ginny stopped, and the Head Boy stood up, striding over to her purposefully. Normally, she would have found this intimidating, but something about his manner kept her calm.

"Yes?" asked Ginny.

Riddle stopped right in front of her. "I have been thinking lately, thinking a lot, actually, and I have come to a conclusion."

"A conclusion?" asked Ginny curiously. "What about?"

Taking a deep breath and letting his eyes focus directly on the ceiling, Riddle began, "Well. Over the last few hours, I have decided that, due to recent events, it would not be completely… undesirable to… _attempt_… a _friendship _with you. For a very short amount of time."

It felt like Ginny's heart was going to burst out of her chest. The ring on Riddle's hand twinkled up at her brightly.

Beaming, Ginny said, "That would be wonderful. I promise, I won't make you regret it."

Riddle muttered something that sounded a heck of a lot like, "I highly doubt that", but Ginny ignored him and proceeded to skip happily up to the bathroom, humming to herself the entire time. For that moment, Abraxas had been pushed out of her mind by better, happier news.

Tom Riddle had consented to being her friend.

She was friends with Lord Voldemort… and strangely enough, Ginny wasn't scared at all.


	23. A Little Help From My Friends

"So, you've been to a few Halloween feasts. What do we do to make the Great Hall Halloween-y?" Ginny asked Riddle. The two of them were making their way to the Great Hall to decorate, and Riddle's offer of friendship had put Ginny in a good mood, despite her recent breakup. "I mean, do we need to send people to Hogsmeade for stuff, or-"

"Dippet has decorations for us. He is simply too lazy to put them up himself," Riddle interrupted. "I assure you, no one has to do anything too complicated."

"Oh," Ginny said, slightly disappointed. She'd wanted to go all out and make the hall look really nice. "Okay."

Riddle either didn't notice her disappointment, or, more likely, chose to ignore it. There was a small bout of silence, and Ginny realized that she didn't like Riddle's quiet as much as Mason's. It was a lot more unsettling.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked, reaching for something to talk about.

"You just did," the Head Boy commented dryly. Ginny ignored him.

"Why did you decide to be my friend now? I'm not complaining or anything, but you were really, really against it before."

Riddle shrugged apathetically.

"Your attempts to defend me from Malfoy brought to light the potential benefits that a friendship with the right person could garner," the Head Boy finally said, his voice smooth and toneless. "I realized that agreeing with your previous proposals would be more advantageous than continuing to resist them."

Ginny made a face, but she _was _dealing with Tom Riddle. She shouldn't have expected anything different.

"So you don't like my wonderful personality at all?" Ginny pressed sweetly.

Riddle shrugged. "One of the benefits."

A smile split Ginny's face. Riddle was serious! Even if he put it in the most roundabout way possible, he really did like her.

"Good," Ginny said. Then, thinking of the mission, lied, "You aren't so bad either."

The Head Boy opened his mouth, probably to contradict her, but they reached the Great Hall before he had a chance to start a real argument. With a slight shake of his head, he said, "You're too much of a Hufflepuff for your own good."

Then he stepped forward and opened one of the doors, propping it open with a long arm so that Ginny could pass through before him.

"Thank you," replied Ginny, as if she wasn't completely aware that his Hufflepuff comment was an insult. She ducked under his arm and into the Great Hall, and the Head Boy followed right behind her.

Most of the prefects were already waiting, save for a number of Slytherins. Ginny's stomach tightened when she realized that Abraxas was one of the ones who were missing.

"Congratulations, Peverell," Riddle said, following her gaze. "I think you actually sent Malfoy to the hospital wing."

Guilt settled in Ginny's stomach, but it didn't last very long. The doors burst open within thirty seconds, and Abraxas and Cassiopeia walked in together, holding hands. Both of their lips were swollen.

Ginny's wand was out in a second, and she was ready to curse both of them into smithereens, but Riddle grabbed her arm firmly. His eyes locked with hers.

"Acting like you don't care will hurt him more."

The redhead knew that Riddle was right, but ignoring Abraxas was the hardest thing that she possibly could have done. They hadn't even broken up twenty-four hours ago, and he was already snogging that ugly whore! What had happened to the guy who took her out to look at the stars, or who called her amazing, or who acted like she was the most beautiful girl on the planet?

Shaking her head furiously, Ginny turned to face the prefects, only vaguely noticing that Riddle had forgotten to let go of her arm, and began speaking in the most cheerful voice she could muster.

"I'd like to thank all of you for coming, especially on such short notice. As I'm sure that you know, Halloween is tomorrow, and Dippet would like us to make the holiday as festive as possible. The headmaster has procured some decorations for us to use, as you can see by the crates lined up along the sides of the room.

"As long as the end result is festive and appropriate, you can do what you please with the materials provided. Riddle and I will supervise and make sure that everyone is doing an equal amount of work. If you have questions, or need help with any spells, be sure to ask." She clasped her hands together, looking everywhere but at Abraxas, and concluded, "I believe that is everything. You may begin."

Ginny cleared her throat a little, then turned to speak only to Riddle. "I'm going to go find Mason, if you don't mind. But, er, I give you permission to hex Abraxas if he and Cassiopeia decide to do more than hold hands. Honestly, if I see them first, I'm going to do it myself. I know that you've been waiting seven years, so…"

"I'll keep that in mind," Riddle said smoothly. "I actually think that I know a charm that would get a certain point across very well."

"I pray that I'll get to see it," laughed Ginny. She backed up, letting Riddle's hand fall away from her arm. The place he'd been holding felt strangely cold, but the Head Girl pretended not to notice. "Well, if you need anything, or if you get bored or something, just give me a yell," Ginny said. Then she turned around and jogged over to where Mason was deftly showing Grace Martian how to hang pumpkin lights.

The brown-eyed prefect stopped when he saw Ginny, his gaze subconsciously flitting to where Abraxas and Cassiopeia were staring dreamily into each other's eyes, doing absolutely nothing. Someone shot a curse right at Abraxas's backside, prompting him to a jump forward and clank his head against Cassiopeia's.

Ginny caught Erin giving her a subtle grin from across the room.

"Are you okay?" Mason asked, his eyes dancing with laughter at the other prefect's antics.

"Yeah," said Ginny, smiling a little. "I'm fine."

It was true for most of the evening, too. She and Mason stayed away from Abraxas and focused on their work, and, for a while, Ginny almost managed to forget that he was even there.

Then Abraxas, Cassiopeia, and Stefan Warrington, wandered over to where Ginny and Mason were charming jack-o-lanterns to make funny faces.

"I wouldn't break up with a girl who could fight like that," Stefan said. Ginny slowed her movements so that she could hear him better. "She bat-bogeyed you, _and_ gave you a black-eye. Honestly, I wouldn't mind picking her up. That's kind of hot."

Abraxas laughed, but it wasn't his normal laugh. It was cruel and deliberate, and not happy at all.

"No matter how 'hot' she is, she's a blood-traitor, Stefan. An orphan, at that. She is worth next to nothing, and, even worse, she clings to any guy that moves."

Stefan made a considering noise.

"I suppose so... She'd make a crappy wife, at the very least. It sounds like she would be terrible at following orders, and a person would have nothing to gain from marrying her. No wonder you decided to stick to your engagement. You'll get so much more out of it…"

The group had moved out of hearing range by then, but it didn't matter. Ginny had heard enough. Not only was she apparently not worth anything to Abraxas, but it sounded like he had been engaged to someone, most likely Cassiopeia Black, throughout their entire relationship…

Suddenly, some things made a lot more sense. Cassiopeia's glares when Abraxas was dancing with her at Slughorn's party, the way that she always made a point to bait Ginny at the prefect meetings...

"Ginny," Mason said worriedly. "He's just trying to hurt you like you hurt him. He did that on purpose."

_I've been forced to leave my entire family. I lived through half of them dying. This isn't half as bad,_ Ginny reminded herself, shaking her head and forcing the tears away. Honestly, losing a stupid boyfriend _wasn't_ as horrible as some of the things she had been through. That didn't stop a terrible hollow feeling from developing in the pit of her stomach, though.

"Don't worry," Ginny said hollowly. "I… I'll be okay."

Mason shook his head, then laced his arm through hers and dragged her out of the Great Hall, ignoring Ginny's halfhearted protests. It wasn't until they were away from all of the other people that Ginny realized how nice it was to be alone with Mason. She stopped struggling to get away from him.

A moment later, Mason ducked into a dimly lit alcove and helped Ginny to the floor before sinking down beside her, close enough that his shoulder rested against hers.

"He was lying, you know. He doesn't think of you like that," Mason said softly.

Ginny made a face. "Like it would matter what he thinks of me. He was engaged the entire time we were going out!"

"And thinking about breaking it off," argued Mason, his voice becoming more severe than she had ever heard it. "You heard Warrington. He was thankful that Abraxas had stuck to his engagement… it sounded like he'd been willing to ignore it, to turn his back on his family, to stay with you if things got any more serious."

Shaking her head, Ginny muttered, "That's ridiculous. I'm not worth that much trouble."

"No," agreed Mason. "You're worth quite a bit more."

Ginny laughed.

"You're delusional. I'm immature and thoughtless and have a terrible temper. Stefan was right. I would make a crappy wife."

"Ginny," sighed Mason. "Just forget about them."

So she did. She leaned over and rested her head on Mason's shoulder and closed her eyes and pretended that Abraxas Malfoy didn't exist. That he hadn't hurt her. That the perfect Harry she had dreamed about since her first year was real and next to her and finally within her grasp.

It was a terribly short time later when Mason nudged Ginny lightly and said, "They're probably almost finished. We should be going back."

"Do I have to?" asked Ginny.

Mason smiled a little.

"You're Head Girl."

Meaning that she'd be expected to be there. With a sigh, Ginny climbed to her feet, then offered Mason a hand and pulled him up too. They walked back to the Great Hall together.

To Ginny's surprise, it sounded like the entire place was filled with laughter as they approached it. Sure, the prefects had been chattering earlier, but what in the world could be _that_ funny? Abraxas hadn't been teasing her, had he?"

Worried, the Head Girl cautiously entered the hall, then furrowed her brow when she saw the prefects gathered in a circle around something she couldn't see.

"What the…" Ginny muttered under her breath. She and Mason both scooted closer, until Erin noticed Ginny and ran over to her, grabbing her hand and excitedly saying, "You have _got_ to see this."

Once Erin had pulled her to the front of the crowd, Ginny could see exactly what the curly-haired prefect had been talking about. Abraxas and Cassiopeia were stuck together at the mouth, running in blind circles, tripping and falling, and looking like absolute morons. The Head Girl bit her lip to keep from bursting into laughter. Someone had used a sticking charm on their mouths! It was absolutely perfect.

But who in the world…

_"I actually think that I know a charm that would get a certain point across very well." _

Ginny's eyes landed on the tall Head Boy, who was watching her from across the circle. Their gazes met, and she shot him a thankful smile. He nodded in acknowledgement. It wasn't much, but it was a pretty good start, and it made Ginny feel a heck of a lot better.

Ginny was still smiling when she headed back to her dorms later that night.


	24. The Mysterious Affair at Hogwarts

Riddle was waiting when Ginny came down from the bathroom the next morning, something that infinitely surprised her. What surprised her even more, however, was the smirk that decorated his handsome face.

"Morning, Riddle," Ginny said happily. "You're looking… cheerful. For you, anyway."

His smirk turned into a scowl, but there was still a relaxedness about him that Ginny wasn't used to.

"I'm never _cheerful_," Riddle said, saying the word like it was poison. "However, I am in a relatively good mood this morning."

"And why, may I ask, is that?" Ginny asked. She grabbed her yellow knitted scarf and wound it around her neck; potions was her first class, and the dungeons were absolutely freezing now that the temperature was beginning to drop.

"Apparently my sticking charm was slightly more potent than I had originally planned."

Ginny paused for a second to comprehend what Riddle said, then let her face break into an earsplitting grin.

"They're still together, aren't they?" she asked, her voice shaking with unconcealed glee.

"Lucas can't figure out how to unstick them," Riddle confirmed, making his words slow and deliberate, like he wanted each one to have time to sink in. "Last that I heard, Dippet was working on them as well."

Instinctively, Ginny let out a happy squeal, then took two quick steps closer to Riddle and wrapped her arms around his thin torso in a quick hug. Being a Weasley and all, it was pretty much required to hug someone who did something nice for you. Even Lord Voldemort.

"I owe you, big time," Ginny said as she pulled away.

"Peverell," Riddle hissed, his cheeks an angry red.

"Sorry," Ginny apologized, even though she wasn't really sorry at all. "I got kind of carried away. I'm an annoying Hufflepuff, remember? Anywhoo, it's time for breakfast. Care to escort me?"

Riddle looked annoyed. "Do not hug me again."

"But you're my friend, silly," Ginny said, hesitantly patting his arm for added effect. "I hug all of my friends."

"But I'm-"

"Late for breakfast," Ginny interrupted. She was finally starting to find a few of Riddle's tolerable qualities, and he really didn't need to keep reminding her about all of his bad ones. Her mission was finally starting to get easier! "Come on, Riddle. I'll even eat with you if you ask really nicely."

"Peverell?" said Riddle, moving in the direction of the portrait hole. Ginny followed after him.

"Yes?"

"I would rather eat my own face."

"You know," Ginny said, hopping out of the entrance and landing obnoxiously on both feet. "You had that same attitude when I first tried to get you to see that I wasn't a stupid waste of space, and when I first talked to you about not being evil, and when I first told you to find a friend. Now, well, you're still pretty evil, but the other two things have changed, haven't they?"

"Well, yes," he said coolly. "I suppose they have."

Ginny beamed.

"Good. Now that we have that settled… " Ginny paused, reaching for something to talk about. "Do you care to give me an update on your creepy other 'friends'? They've been pretty quiet lately."

Riddle hesitated, and then, to Ginny's surprise, he answered her.

"Unfortunately, yes, they have been," said Riddle darkly. "I have been searching for a particular item, and my servants have been using their spare time to search for it." He looked at Ginny with calculating eyes, then slowly continued, "You know of my plans for immortality, but you may not realize that I have already taken numerous precautions to ensure that my soul, at the very least, survives anything that may happen to me."

"I guess that doesn't really surprise," Ginny said, her eyes glued on the Head Boy. "I... I just don't understand what you could be looking for, if you've already made yourself immortal."

"The problem is that I'm _not _immortal," Riddle admitted, the confession coming off his lips like poison. "My precautions could fail me very easily, and, even if they did work, there would be… annoying side effects. A part of me wants to take _more _precautions, but… doing so would not completely erase the complications."

"So what are you going to do?" breathed Ginny. She was fully aware that the Head Boy was discussing his Horcruxes, and more than amazed at his willingness to broach the subject.

"I have heard rumors that Grindelwald is searching for a different way to avoid death. Not by any painful dark magic, but through the use of some kind of… tools. I assure you, I do not strive to be like Grindelwald, but if the rumors are true, this information could make my quest for power much, much easier."

They walked on in silence while Ginny puzzled over his words. Dumbledore had never told her anything about Riddle looking for _extra _immortality beyond his Horcruxes. Ginny's presence wasn't related to this new development, was it?

Or maybe… maybe Riddle never found the information that he was searching for and wound up having to settle for making more Horcruxes instead. That would make sense…

"Cool," Ginny said. "And have you found anything yet?"

"No," Riddle said, lowering his voice as they neared the more populated area of the school. "Unfortunately, I don't even know what I am looking for. One of my servants mentioned these tools several years ago, but that was before I fully understood what they could mean. Unfortunately, that _servant _has now defected."

"Oh," Ginny said. She scrunched her face up in thought. "I didn't think you that you let your servants leave. I mean, if someone joins your group, isn't it for life?"

"Usually," Riddle said bitterly, managing to look vaguely amused despite his angry tone of voice. "However, this specific servant has a sort of… immunity that prevents me from harming him, even now."

Something about what Riddle was saying was scratching at the surface of Ginny's mind, but she couldn't quite figure out what it was. Unfortunately for her, Riddle and she reached the Great Hall before she could ask him any more questions.

With a contemplative look in Riddle's direction, the Head Girl said, "Bye Riddle", then skipped off to join her friends at the Hufflepuff table.

...

The Halloween feast later that night was an enormous success. Dippet loved the decorations, the food was delicious, and Ginny got to spend an uncomplicated meal chatting with Erin and Allison.

Then, when Ginny thought that the feast was finished, all of the teachers ordered the students to stand up, then proceeded to vanish the house tables and replace them with dozens of kid's games, like 'Pin the tail on the manticore', or a quaffle throwing booth. Erin laughed, Allison started jumping up and down, and even Ginny grinned at the prospect of having one fun, uncomplicated evening.

"Oh, this is going to be so cool!" Allison said happily, and Erin nodded in agreement.

As soon as Dippet announced the games to be ready, the three Hufflepuffs took off and started going from booth to booth, taking part in every game they could. Most of the other older students stood back and watched, but Ginny didn't care; she was having a good time.

After tossing a quaffle through a tiny goal nine times out of ten, Ginny spun around to see where her friends had gone. To her surprise, Mason was standing right behind her.

"I'm so glad they did this," Ginny said, ambling over to him and lacing her arm through his. "Isn't it nice to get away from the war for a while?"

"I suppose," shrugged Mason. "I was just-"

"Going to play the apple game with me," Ginny interrupted. Her eyes landed on the stand, and she yanked Mason towards it. With everything going on in his life, it was clear that he needed to take a nice, relaxing break. "Come on."

"No, Ginny. I don't think-" Mason began. He was cut off when someone cleared their throat. Ginny's eyes darted towards the sound, and she swallowed when she saw Mulciber standing in front of them.

"Ginevra," the tall Slytherin said. He bowed his head towards Ginny and shot her a friendly smile, probably still thankful for her help at the start of the school year. Then he looked at Mason, and the friendliness completely left his face. "McCreery. I need to talk to you."

"Not now," Mason said, looking right at Ginny. "I'm busy."

"She knows about Riddle," Mulciber snorted. "I don't think that there's been a Death Eater meeting she hasn't waltzed into some time or another. She can hear anything I want to tell you."

"But she doesn't _know_," said Mason.

"Wait," said Mulciber. He looked between Mason and Ginny, then let out a loud, harsh laugh. "You haven't told her about...?"

"It's too dangerous," Mason said emphatically.

"Dangerous?" asked Mulciber. "She may be close to Riddle, but I really don't think that she'd tell him anything. She's not a Death Eater, and she did help me after _he _hurt me. If you two are as friendly as you look, you've got to tell her."

"I'm right here," Ginny cut in. The two boys ignored her.

"I do trust her," Mason argued. "I just don't want Riddle to think that she knows more than she does. He might hurt her if he thinks he can get my secret out of her."

"That's bull and you know it," laughed Mulciber. "You're just _scared_. Really, Mason. She's got a strong stomach; I don't think that she'll run away. Then again, she is friends with _her_... Still, if she's going to be so mixed up with all of this business, it's best not to leave her ignorant. Either you tell her and explain what happened, or Riddle will, and I have no doubt that he'll slaughter every notion that she's ever had of you."

_"HEY!" _exclaimed Ginny. "Could you please quit talking about me like I'm not here?"

Mason and Mulciber both looked at her, rather surprised. Mulciber let out a nervous laugh.

"Right, sorry," the Slytherin said, looking apologetic. "Mason _will_ explain this to you eventually."

"You don't want to know," said Mason. His usually happy eyes shone with something akin to terror. "Just let it go."

"No," Ginny said, looking back and forth between Mason and Mulciber quickly enough to make her head spin. Nothing that either of the boys was talking about made sense, and her temples were beginning to throb. "I won't let it go. Tell me what's going on, Mason, or just might go to Riddle."

"Ginny, it's too..."

Mason trailed off, and Ginny turned around, already knowing why. Tom Riddle had ambled over to the edge of their group, an unreadable expression on his face. Annoyed and angry from Mason and Mulciber's conversation, the Head Girl was actually glad to see him.

"Interesting company that you keep, Peverell," Riddle said, his eyes drilling into Mulciber. "Do you mind if I join you?"

"Actually," Ginny said, glaring at the two boys she had just been speaking to, "I was just getting ready to leave. Dippet must be putting something in the water, because it seems like everyone is _absolutely infuriating _lately. Come on, Riddle. Let's go do something else."

Riddle appeared surprised, but complied without question.

"That was... interesting, to say the least," the Head Boy said. He fixed Ginny with an inquisitive look, silently demanding to know what they had been talking about.

"Don't worry," Ginny said. "No one said anything of too much importance. Mason won't tell me his secret, and Mulciber, as far as I can tell, unsubtly asked Mason for the same information that Avery tried cursing out of him."

The Head Boy chuckled to himself, his lips curved up into a handsome smile, and his eyes flashing with amusement.

"I thought you were smarter than that, Peverell," he laughed. Ginny gave Riddle a blank look, and the Heir of Slytherin shook his head. "Don't worry. I have no doubt that you will figure it out soon enough."

"Er, alright," said Ginny. "If you insist...Now, how about some quaffle-toss?"

Riddle snorted out a "No", but Ginny wasn't surprised. Even she didn't feel like playing games anymore, not with all of the worried thoughts flying around in her head. She trailed Riddle awkwardly for a minute, then retreated to her room, telling him that she needed to catch up on her sleep.


	25. Faith, Hope, and Charity

"_Ginny? Can you hear me, Ginny?" _

_Ginny looked up and squinted, her breath catching in her chest when Harry Potter's face appeared out of the foggy air. Her lips curved into a smile, but she wasn't sure how genuine it was. She hadn't spent very much time thinking about any of her friends and family, mostly because it was so painful, but now that the Boy Who Lived was standing in front of her, she felt guilty about it. "Are you really here?" _

_"I don't know," Harry said. "That depends on what you think. _Am_ I here?" _

_"I don't think so," said Ginny unsurely, reaching out to touch the figure in front of her. Her hand landed squarely on his chest. "I'm in the past… you aren't even born yet… haven't died yet." _

_"Does that mean anything?" asked Harry. "Voldemort has to have shown you that souls can survive nearly anything." _

_"So you _are_ here?" _

_Harry ignored her question. _

_"You're having problems," he said. _

_Ginny went along with the sudden subject change. She had a feeling that Harry was just a figment of her imagination, and she didn't want to push the matter of his existence for fear that her suspicions would be confirmed. _

_"Er. Yeah, I guess," answered Ginny, thinking particularly of Abraxas and Mason. _

_Harry stepped forward and rested an arm around her shoulder. _

_"Keep your head up, Gin. I'm sure that everything will turn out fine." _

_"I'm not so sure," Ginny said. She took a shaky breath. "I'm not as worried about the Abraxas thing anymore, but… I'm scared that Mason is betraying me. Er, do you know what's going on in this time, or will I have to tell you?" _

_Harry smiled. _

_"I know everything," he said. "And I also know that you know what's going on with Mason… all you have to do is _think_." _

_"Really!" said Ginny. "I feel so stupid… even Riddle says I should have figured it out by now. Can't you just tell me?" _

_"Ginny," said Harry. "You know that it's never that easy." _

_"Are you sure?" Ginny asked. "Maybe I could ask Riddle about it. I have a feeling that he'd explain it." _

_Holding her more tightly, Harry said, "This is something that Mason needs to tell you. If he doesn't… there's a chance that you'll lose him forever. _

_"How long can forever be?" questioned Ginny, furrowing her brow. "I'm going back to the future as soon as my mission is finished." _

_"Sometimes time isn't as important as we think it is," Harry said. _

_**Ring! Ring! Ring! **_

_Harry's face started to fade away, and Ginny felt her throat tightening. _

_"That's my alarm charm," Ginny said. She looked at Harry frantically. "Do you have to leave now? Will I get to see you again?" _

_"I've got to go, Gin. Bye." _

_"Harry, please don't-" _

_**RING! RING!**_

Ginny groaned as Harry disappeared completely, and she woke up to a mostly dark bedroom. Her heart hurt. Bad. Even though she had enjoyed her little… dream? visit? illusion?... it brought back a lot of memories that were better off forgotten.

_Whatever, _Ginny thought, shaking her head to clear it. _No more worrying about Harry, or Mason. Today, I've got to focus on Riddle. _

With that thought, the Head Girl pushed herself out of bed and began getting ready for her trip to London. Figuring that she didn't have to look too nice for Riddle, Ginny simply braided her long hair back into a fiery braid, then put on a green cotton blouse and thick wool skirt. Satisfied that she'd be fine without any extra makeup, the Hufflepuff grabbed a warm cloak and made her way down to the Head's common room.

Riddle was already waiting, and, surprise, surprise; he had a book in his lap.

"Is there such a thing as reading _too _much?" Ginny asked. She jumped off her staircase from three steps up, grinning when her flats clanked loudly on the floor.

Riddle cringed, but Ginny ignored him, draping her cloak over her shoulders and fastening the neck while the Head Boy took the time to close his book, set it off to the side, and unfold his tall frame from his over-stuffed chair.

"Reading is knowledge," he said, "and knowledge is power. Can a person have too much power?"

"Yes," Ginny replied.

A smirk decorated the Head Boy's handsome face.

"Then you have your answer." Riddle gestured towards the fireplace. "I had Dippet connect our fireplace to the Floo Network for this single occasion. We are due to meet Addison at the Ministry of Magic in about five minutes. Are you ready to go?"

"Er, yeah, I suppose," said Ginny, unsurprised that Riddle had gotten everything organized. "Let's go."

The Heir of Slytherin went first, striding over to the fireplace, pulling out a handful of Floo Powder, and announcing, "The Ministry of Magic", in a voice even more clear and precise than usual. Ginny quickly mimicked his actions.

When the Head Girl stumbled out of the fireplace, she was surprised to see that the Ministry looked exactly like it had when she had visited her father there as a child. Unlike in 1998, there were no shrines to Lord Voldemort, no fountain with Muggles being crushed, and no hordes of terrified Muggleborns trying to prove their ancestry. It was a happy place, bustling with workers and scattered with witches and wizards of all bloodlines.

Riddle looked around calculatingly, and Ginny wasn't sure if he was dreaming of the day when he would take the place over, or looking for Addison. Ginny wouldn't have hesitated to say that it was the first option if he hadn't tapped her shoulder and asked, "Is that her, Peverell?"

Ginny followed the Head Boy's gaze, grinning when she saw a tiny head of raven hair. An uncomfortable-looking man in a gray cloak was standing behind the small girl, who was craning her neck as if searching for something.

"Definitely her," said Ginny. Excited, she grabbed Riddle's hand and dragged him in the direction of the girl.

"I can walk perfectly fine by myself-" Riddle started, but then Addison turned, her big blue eyes landed on them, and a flash of black took off in their direction. First she launched herself at Ginny, giving the Head Girl barely enough time to return the hug before pulling away and throwing her arms around Riddle.

Ginny giggled into her mittens while she watched Riddle struggle to maintain his usual composure. His hands were clenched into stiff fists, his back was ramrod straight, and his eyes held a hint of discomfort. Thankfully, Addison pulled away from him just as quickly as she had with Ginny.

"Tom, Ginny!" Addison said happily. She was missing several of her teeth, which gave her a slight lisp. "I am _so _glad to meet you."

"We're even gladder to meet you," said Ginny, kneeling down so that she could get a better look at Addison's face. It was easy to see that she was going to be a beauty someday, with pretty features and eyelashes so long they brushed her pale cheeks. "Your letters have been so sweet, and both of us just _knew _that you'd be an amazing girl."

Addison's smile grew so big that it had to have hurt.

"Thank you so much," she said warmly. "I've never known anyone outside of the orphanage before, and everyone's always told me that most people are terrible. I can't wait to tell them that they're all wrong."

Ginny laughed again; it was ironic that Lord Voldemort had helped convince an eight-year-old girl of the general population's goodness.

Apparently Riddle thought so, too, because he was beginning to look exceedingly uncomfortable. Clearing his throat, he turned to the man who had been watching Addison and said, "We should get going if we want to see the city. Are you coming with us?"

"No," said the man gruffly. "I only wanted to ensure that Addison found you safely. You _are _Tom Riddle and Ginevra Peverell, are you not?"

"Of course," Ginny said. She stood and put a hand on Addison's shoulder. "You can go whenever. We'll have her back around… I dunno. Is seven o'clock okay?"

"That's fine," the man said.

Then he walked away.

Ginny looked at Riddle. "Doesn't he want to make sure that we're not kidnappers or murderers?"

Riddle leaned in until his lips were almost brushing against Ginny's ear, and, too soft for Addison to hear, he whispered, "If we got her killed, it would be one less mouth for the orphanage to feed. He doesn't who we are."

The redhead shivered, but she wasn't quite sure if it was because of Riddle's words, or if it had more to do with the dark lord's startling proximity. Slightly unnerved, Ginny scooted forward.

"Well," she said, looking down at Addison. "How about we go to the park? I'll buy you an ice-cream, and you can tell me all about your friends."

"That would be great," Addison said. She situated herself directly in between Ginny and Riddle and put one of her hands into each of theirs. Ginny grinned happily at Riddle, knowing that he wouldn't let go, not in public.

The Head Boy gave Ginny a look that clearly said, 'I will kill you if you tell my Death Eaters about this'.

Ginny smiled sweetly in response.

…

"… and then Georgie bet me that I couldn't shove three marshmallows in my mouth at the same time, which is absolutely ridiculous, don't you think?"

Addison stopped in the middle of her story, big blue eyes shifting from Ginny to Riddle as she silently prompted them for a response.

"Ridiculous," replied Riddle saccharinely. He was still smiling, but it had gotten to the point where he looked like an old statue. Ginny was pretty sure that if she poked his face too hard, it would probably crack. "Your mouth is more than big enough to fit at _least _three marshmallows."

Ginny kicked his shin.

"Are you trying to say something?" Addison asked.

"No," said Riddle sweetly, practically batting his thick eyelashes at the little girl. "I was just agreeing with you."

Laughing musically, Addison turned so that she was facing Riddle. The three of them were walking down a narrow path in the center of one of London's wizarding parks, and Addison's movement put her practically on top of the Head Boy.

"I like you, Tom," she said, tilting her chin _way _up so that she could see his face. "You're funny."

"Funny?" asked Riddle skeptically.

"Yes," confirmed Addison. "You act like you don't like all my talking, but Ginny talks a lot, too, and you like her… _a lot_, so I think you actually like conversational people-"

"Hey, hey, hey," interrupted Ginny, stepping in front of Addison so that she could give the girl her worst glower. "What was with the little eyebrow-waggle when you said 'a lot'?"

Addison shrugged her small shoulders.

"Nothing," she said in a sugary voice. "Nothing at all."

"I think," announced Riddle, "that it's time for supper."

Ginny gave Addison one more wary look, then straightened and turned to Riddle.

"If you insist. However, I'm not from here, so you'll have to pick a…"

The Head Girl trailed off and looked at her two travelling companions. It was doubtful that any of them had ever eaten at a restaurant. She sighed.

"Never mind. We can find a place. Er…"

"I have no money," volunteered Addison.

"I'll pay for everyone," Ginny said, making a point not to look at Riddle. She hoped that avoiding his gaze would discourage a negative reaction from him, but it didn't work. The Head Boy grabbed Ginny's shoulder and twirled her around, not as violently as she would have expected, but roughly still the same. Dark, dark eyes bore into hers.

"I can pay for myself."

"How?" challenged Ginny. She stepped over to him and, talking lowly and quickly, said, "I know you don't have a job, and you couldn't have gotten _anything_ from your parents. If nothing else, I'm… a bitchy heiress, and you know that I've got enough money."

Riddle stepped forward.

"I am _not _a charity case."

"No," said Ginny emphatically, "but you are a friend."

The Head Boy dropped her arm, and his eyes softened a tiny bit. Ginny noticed that they weren't really the plain steel-gray she'd always assumed, but rather a dark silver, mixed with little streaks of obsidian and a color like midnight...

"Eh-hem," Addison interrupted. Riddle turned around smoothly, clearly unaffected. "If you are quite finished, I _am _hungry, so…"

"Right," said Ginny. "We shouldget going. How about we go to Diagon Alley and find a place there? They've got to have _something_."

"Alright, then," said Addison happily. "I'll apparate with Tom."

Ginny grinned and Riddle groaned. Addison let out another beautiful laugh and latched on to Riddle's hand.

…

The rest of the day passed by quickly. Addison inhaled the meal that Ginny bought her, and even though Riddle refused to order anything, he managed to keep on his good-boy mask throughout their supper.

After the three of them finished eating, they took a brief tour of Diagon Alley. Riddle didn't say much, but Ginny didn't miss the way that his eyes looked everywhere but at the displays in the windows. Addison, on the other hand, was the complete opposite, jumping from window to window and asking questions too fast for Ginny to possibly answer.

Ginny remembered Riddle saying that most orphans were miserable, but Addison was different. In a way, she was like the Head Boy himself. Both of them had been thrown into crappy situations, and instead of letting that bring them down, they tried to make the best of what they had.

Of course, Addison's way of staying optimistic didn't have anything to do with satanic practices or slaughtering innocent schoolgirls with a giant devil-snake, but the idea was similar.

By seven o'clock, Riddle, Addison, and Ginny had made their way back to the Ministry of Magic, where the gray-haired man was waiting impatiently. Addison's shoulders slumped, and her smile shrunk the barest amount.

"Will… will I see you guys again sometime?" she asked, stepping closer to Riddle, as if the Heir of Slytherin would refuse to let her be taken away. Ginny's heart almost broke at the look on the girl's face.

"Of course," Ginny said. "I promise. Maybe, if we can find the time, we'll visit you around Christmas. I could get you your very own present, and we could maybe have a snowball fight, or even go ice-skating. How does that sound?"

"Oh, that would be perfect," said Addison. She ran out of Riddle's grip and threw her arms around Ginny. "I have presents for you, too. I was going to give them to you today, but Georgie said that I should wait for Christmas, otherwise I wouldn't have nothing to give you then. That's okay, isn't it?"

"It's fine," Riddle said. He was beginning to look impatient, and Ginny knew better than to draw out their good-bye.

"It's perfect," agreed Ginny. She gave Addison one more hug, then stepped back to watch the gruff-looking man lead her off to one of the fireplaces. Ginny smiled when the raven-headed girl turned around and waved at them both one more time before hopping in and disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"I'm bringing a muzzle next time," muttered Riddle. The tall Head Boy stepped into a nearby fireplace and grabbed a handful of Floo powder.

Ginny tossed Floo Powder at him, hitting the Head Boy square in the chest.

"She was _sweet_."

"More like noisy," Riddle scoffed, looking more entertained than angry at Ginny's antics. Ginny began to scoop up another handful of Floo Powder to throw at him, annoyed by his lack of reaction, but Riddle he tossed his own powder into the air and announced, "Head's common room, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry", before Ginny got the chance.

Ginny huffed, then jumped into the fireplace behind Riddle. Her carefree mood had already started to vanish.

Now that her trip to London was out of the way, she was going to have to figure out what Mason was hiding.

_I only hope that the answer doesn't change everything, _thought Ginny. Grimly, she grabbed her own powder and Flooed back to Hogwarts.


	26. Foolish Things, Surprises Are

Ginny's resolve to find out all of Mason's secrets wavered as the next week passed her by. Mason acted as if the conversation between he and Mulciber had never happened, and Ginny couldn't bring herself to broach the subject. She did catch Mulciber looking at her strangely several times, but her dream with Harry kept her from prompting him for information.

Before she knew it, Ginny's classes for the week were finished, and she hadn't even attempted to ask Mason what was going on. A part of her hoped that he was simply working up the courage to tell her, but she knew that Mason was probably just hoping she'd forget about it.

_As if_, Ginny thought as she exited the Head's Common Room that Saturday morning. She was wearing an emerald green hat and scarf, supporting Slytherin for the first Quidditch match of the year. Even though dressing as a Slytherin hurt, she wanted to suck up to Riddle. Ginny had no idea whether or not he was attending the match, but she figured that it was better to be safe than sorry.

Mason was sitting in the Gryffindor section of the stands when Ginny arrived at the stadium, but she didn't go out of her way to sit by him. As a former Gryffindor, she knew that it would have been suicide to sit with the lions when she was wearing so much green. Instead, the Hufflepuff bravely strode into the Slytherin half of the stadium and wedged herself between Mulciber and Lestrange. Lestrange glared at her, and Ginny more or less crawled into Mulciber's lap.

"It's nice to see you, Peverell," Mulciber said as he awkwardly scooted out from underneath her.

"Same to you," Ginny said.

Their eyes locked, and Ginny fancied that the Slytherin silently asked, _'Did Mason tell you what's going on?'. _

She shook her head. Mulciber sighed.

"He's an idiot."

"You're not talkin' 'bout the Lord, are you?" Lestrange grumbled. Ginny jumped; the giant Slytherin scared her almost as much as Riddle did.

"Riddle?" asked Ginny. She laughed uneasily. "No. He's smart. Super, super, smart. We were just talking about…"

"Malfoy," Mulciber said, his body language screaming at her not to mention Mason. Ginny had no idea what the big deal was, but she listened to the Death Eater. It was apparent that he had a better idea of what was going on than she did.

"Malfoy?" asked Lestrange. His face scrunched up in confusion. "The pouf who dumped her? You're not flirting, are you? 'Cause she don't want your ugly-arse face."

Mulciber ignored the comment, evidently used to the teasing, but Ginny glowered at the rhinoceros of a Death Eater.

"I don't think you have the right to call anyone ugly," she snapped irritably.

Lestrange started to reach for his wand, then cursed and stopped.

"If Riddle wasn't keeping us from hurting you, I'd… I'd…"

"Do you really want to finish that sentence, Raoul?"

Another curse fell from Lestrange's lips.

Ginny turned to face the owner of the voice, Lestrange's previous words flitting through her mind. Riddle had ordered them not to hurt her? What the-

"I did not mean it, my…" He looked at the small group of Ravenclaws sitting behind him- "dear Head Boy. I was just giving dear Ginevra a hard time." He laughed uneasily and reached to pinch her cheek, but Ginny slapped his wrist away. "I would never hurt _her_."

'Her' was said in a very suggestive tone.

The Head Girl vaguely wondered what Riddle had been telling his Death Eaters behind her back. Ginny met Riddle's gaze, but he was too concerned with Lestrange to look at her. She decided that she was being paranoid.

"I know you wouldn't," Riddle said. He unsubtly pushed Lestrange out of the way and sat between him and Ginny. "You're much too intelligent for that."

Ginny snorted again, feeling a lot braver now that Voldemort was in between her and his rabid pet gorilla. Mulciber laughed, too.

Riddle's reproachful look stalled Ginny's smile.

"You have a talent for saying the worst possible thing at the worst possible time. Do you not realize this?" he asked.

Ginny opened her mouth to defend herself, but only sighed with the realization that Riddle was right. To be perfectly honest, her mother had said the same thing to her numerous times.

Ginny put a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh when it dawned on her that she had just compared Molly Weasley to Tom Riddle.

"Yeah," she said, her voice slightly wistful. "I realize that. Do _you _realize that I find it strange to see you at a Quidditch match?"

Riddle shrugged.

"I enjoy the sport." Then, leaning closer to Ginny and whispering in her ear, he continued, "Dippet would find it very untoward if the Head Boy missed a school event as prominent as Quidditch. I honestly hate the game."

Still not used to the Head Boy's recently acquired habit of whispering to her, Ginny whirled her head in Riddle's direction, planning on giving him a sarcastic comeback.

Said comeback died on Ginny's lips when she found herself a lot closer to Riddle than she had planned. He was _right there_, his nose nearly brushing against hers, his dark eyes close enough to fall into.

Ginny could feel him just like she had in her first year, all of his charms and darkness working to seduce her without a conscious effort on his part. She swallowed.

"I… Quidditch isn't that bad," she breathed.

Mulciber nudged her in the ribs, subtly enough that it was doubtful Riddle noticed. Ginny didn't need to look at him to know that he saw exactly how Riddle had affected her. She also didn't need to look to realize that he was screaming at her with his eyes, telling her to talk to Mason before it was too late. He was probably thinking that she was falling deeper under Riddle's influence or something silly like that.

"Of course _you _would say that," Riddle said, a smirk in his voice. His lips were still close enough to her face that his breath tickled her cheek.

Ginny suddenly felt very hot and very uncomfortable. More than that, however, even she was starting to worry about what would happen if she didn't speak with Mason soon. What if Riddle got to her first, and she fell under his spell just like she had her first year, like she was doing right at that very moment?

Mulciber was right. Ginny needed to quit letting Mason off so easy. If he wasn't going to tell her what was going on, then she would drag the information out of him by force.

Or… perhaps Ginny just needed to cut him a deal, to give Mason something in exchange for what she wanted him to give her... Maybe if she told him about her mission, Mason would reveal what he was hiding.

Was that what he needed? - Something to make the exchange feel more equal, like he wasn't the only one giving something away?

The Head Girl looked at her hands, unsure of telling Mason everything now that she knew he was hiding so much himself. She _could _trust him, though, right? Mulciber did, enough to let him know that he was against Riddle. That _had _to be a good sign.

"Are you going to stand, Peverell?" Mulciber asked, tearing Ginny out of her reprieve. The Hufflepuff jolted her head up, shaking herself out of her thoughts. Riddle was looking at her curiously.

"Thinking about anything in particular?" he asked, raising a brow. Ginny hopped to her feet with the realization that the teams were getting introduced, her cheeks tomato red.

"No," she shrugged. "Not really."

Ginny _had_ been thinking about something, though, and she had finally made her decision. The next time that Ginny saw Mason, he _would _talk to her, even if she had to share a few things with him first.

…

To Ginny's chagrin, Slytherin eventually won the match. They definitely hadn't played any better than the Gryffindors, but Abraxas had caught the snitch in dive that would have made Harry jealous. To make matters worse, the stupid blond had _winked_ at her after he'd secured the little gold ball.

Ginny flipped him off, but didn't spend any more time focusing on him or the match. She needed to talk to Mason before she lost her courage.

Thankfully, Mason hadn't been able to move quickly in the midst of all the students, and Ginny was able to elbow and tackle her way through the thick crowds to get to him before he could escape.

"Mason!" Ginny called, dodging a gangly fourth year and positioning herself next to her friend. He tried to bolt, but she grabbed his hand. "Fancy seeing you here."

"It's a Quidditch match," he said. "No one misses them."

"I suppose not," laughed Ginny. "Even Riddle attended."

Even the simple mention of the Head Boy's name made Mason tense.

"Wonderful," he said. It didn't sound like he thought it was wonderful at all.

They walked on in silence.

"I've decided something," Ginny said eventually. Mason said nothing, but she knew that he had heard her. She continued speaking. "I realized that I could maybe make a deal with you."

"I don't want money."

"That isn't what I was going to give you," Ginny said. She pulled on Mason's arm, slowly leading him away from the hordes of people. "I want to give you information."

"Information?" said Mason skeptically. He shook his head. "I don't need that."

Meaning that he thought he knew more than Ginny did. Oh, was he going to be in for a surprise.

"Not about Riddle," Ginny said. "About other things. About why I'm here." Taking a leaf from Riddle's book, she lowered her voice in a manner that she hoped was enticing and brought her lips to his ear. "About the future."

_That _got his attention.

He backed up and looked at Ginny with wide eyes. She stared straight back.

Ten, twenty, thirty seconds passed with Mason unable to do anything except for stare at Ginny in shock. Once the surprise wore off, he took another few seconds to contemplate Ginny's offer.

Finally, he said, "You'll regret telling me anything."

"Will what you do in the future make me regret it, or will what you have done in the past?"

"The past, but-"

"Then I don't care. I just need to know, Mason. It's important. Believe me. If this is anywhere near as big as everyone is making it out to be, it's more important than you could ever guess."

"_The future_?" mouthed Mason. Ginny nodded, and he sighed. The expression on his face was one that Ginny imagined a death row inmate would have. "Okay. I'll tell you. Just… don't hate me."

"I would never."

"I wouldn't speak so quickly."

The two Hufflepuffs veered off course as if by silent agreement. Before long, they were walking along the shore of the Black Lake, both of them scared of what was going to come. Mason sat down on a cool boulder, almost as far away from the school as possible. Ginny took a seat on the ground in front of him.

There was a short silence, and then Mason spoke.

"I'll start at the beginning," he said dully. His voice didn't break, and he sounded more tired than scared. "Most people believe my parents are both Muggles… My father was. My mother is anything but. I do not know if you recognize the name or not, but my grandmother was originally a Bagshot. She married when she was young, but… for reasons that you'll guess in just a moment, both she and my mother went by that name."

"I already knew this," Ginny said, trying not to sound too impatient. "_What's _the big deal?"

"The big deal," Mason said, "is that my grandmother married a man named Jakob Grindelwald. His son… my uncle… was, is Gellert Grindelwald."


	27. Who Wouldn't Know?

Ginny stared at Mason, her expression froze into an unattractive gape.

"Wait…" she said. "That's not… I don't believe you."

The Head Girl shook her head, her brain going a million miles an hour. His statement didn't make sense, at all. Dumbledore never said that Grindelwald had a sister, or a niece.

And what was Mason doing at Hogwarts if he was related to Grindelwald? What about Durmstrang? Why did Dumbledore even let him in?

What about _Riddle_? Did the Head Boy know about this….

Ginny jolted as a light bulb went off inside her head.

"_I have heard rumors that Grindelwald is searching for a different way to avoid death."_

_"One of my servants mentioned these tools several years ago."_

_"This specific servant has a sort of… immunity that prevents me from harming him, even now."_

Of course Riddle knew. He'd been hinting at who Mason was for weeks, and Ginny had been too much of a dunderhead to pick up on it. Mason wasn't just Grindelwald's nephew, he'd been a Death Eater, he knew terrible, dangerous information, and Riddle wanted that information badly.

"Never mind," Ginny amended weakly, feeling stupid and betrayed. Riddle not telling her this was one thing, but _Mason _never finding it necessary to mention that he was related to the man who had killed her 'parents' was something else entirely. "I believe you, but… There's more to it than just that. I don't like that you're related to him, but you had to have known that it wouldn't make me run. You've got more to tell me."

Mason ran a hand through his hair. He wasn't looking at her, instead focusing intently on his hands.

"I was going to get to everything else," said Mason. He sounded less than eager. "I... like I said, my mother was Grindelwald's sister. They weren't close, hardly even family… he got kicked out of school when she was very young. Her entire life, she was told about how terrible he was… you've got to understand that. This… none of this… was her fault."

Mason glanced at Ginny, as if making sure she was still there, then shifted his weight and turned his gaze out to the glistening Black Lake.

"Just before my mother graduated from Durmstrang, Grindelwald began sinking deeper into the Dark Arts. Rumors were spreading, and she was suffering because of them. To be safe, Durmstrang eventually expelled her, and she was forced to return to her parents' home. In an attempt to escape the prejudice, my grandmother changed their last name and took my mother to Berlin.

"For a long time, they were fine. My mother got a job at the German Ministry, and at one point she fell in love with a Muggle soldier. They were soon married, and it wasn't long before I was born. Everything was fine… Then Grindelwald started tearing across Europe.

"Germany was one of his first targets. My mother tried hiding, but it didn't work; Grindelwald wanted her head for marrying a filthy Muggle. He found her hiding place and killed my father, then threatened my mother, telling her that she could either surrender or meet the same fate as her husband.

"My mother was… cowardly. She followed him without question, taking me with, of course. I spent the first years of my life in one of Grindelwald's palaces. By the time that I was six, he ignored his hatred of my father and began my training. I was to be one of his top generals… My mother, happy to be alive, told me it was a privilege. I believed it." Mason laughed darkly. "I was six, and my own mother was encouraging me to hate Muggles… of course, I believed her.

"I trained for four years… it was..." Mason stopped, unable to continue, then dropped what he had been trying to say and moving on. "When I was ten, everything changed. I think my mother cracked. She snuck me a sleeping potion, and when I woke up, we were in an old London apartment. I was angry, but she sobbed her whole story to me anyway. How horrifying it was, to learn that my own _father _was a Muggle…"

Mason stopped for a moment, but Ginny didn't mind. She needed the time to process everything that he had told her. The Head Girl had thought that Riddle had been put in a terrible position as a child, but Mason… Mason had pretty much been brought up as Grindelwald's attack dog. Ginny wasn't sure if she should be feeling disgust or pity.

"I won't go into detail about anything right after that," Mason finally continued. "We obtained a house, I was convinced not to go back to Grindelwald, and my mother enrolled me at Hogwarts under my father's last name. She told me that it was for my own safety. I was to pretend to be a Muggleborn.

"Disgusted, I _almost_ refused. The only thing that kept me quiet was the worry that I would be killed for my mother's actions in the event that we were discovered. Like a good son, I went to Hogwarts. To my absolute horror, I was put in Hufflepuff. I was sickened… I did my best to distance myself from all of my housemates, and my first couple years at the school were spent alone.

"Then Riddle approached me during my third year. Somehow, he had found out about my lineage. He said that he knew how powerful I was, and that he wanted me to be second-in-command for this… group he was forming... I was still Grindelwald's at this time, and I believed in everything that Riddle did. So I went along with it..."

He stopped and rolled up his sleeve, revealing an ugly dark mark. It was just where Ginny had expected it to be.

"You know what this is, I'm guessing?" Mason asked, his face betraying nothing. Ginny tried to speak, but couldn't. Mason didn't seem to notice. "It was weeks later that the Death Eaters officially formed. I didn't hang out with any of them, but I went to all of the meetings, and Riddle and I met frequently. He had big ideas, including immortality. There's more to that, but I need to finish the ugly part of my story first.

"Fifth year, Riddle began doing… something. I don't know what, but kids were turning up petrified, and one eventually died…" Mason trailed off, and Ginny felt her blood turn to ice. Any mention of the Chamber made her go cold. She hated that place, absolutely loathed it.

"At one point, he wanted me to turn myself in," Mason confessed. "He said that if I truly supported the cause, I would go to Dumbledore and tell him everything. That I was Grindelwald's nephew, and that _I _had been opening the Chamber. I refused. We got into an argument, and… well, eventually someone overheard. I remember getting mad at Riddle, so mad that I wanted to kill him, and then…" His face was pale white now, and he was scooting away from Ginny, almost like he didn't want to pollute the air that she was breathing.

"Then I saw her. Our eyes met, and I don't know how much she heard, but I just knew that I couldn't let her get away. Riddle had been talking like I'd done everything, and I knew how much trouble I would be in if she said anything. My first instinct was to fire a killing curse… so I did.

"It missed by inches, Ginny. I was… inches away from killing someone. I regained my senses back after that, and simply stunned her. Then I… I said that if she told anyone, her life would become a living hell.

"I couldn't sleep for weeks after, and I knew I wasn't as cruel as I'd once thought. After a lot of thinking, I told Riddle that I was done, and that I'd tell Grindelwald if he wouldn't let me leave.

"Then I threw myself into making up for my three years with the Death Eaters. I tried to stay away from people when possible, but the tutoring, all the prefect work, and other things… offering to help people with their books, staying after class and cleaning up, taking on Slytherin bullies… was because I wanted to erase everything that I'd done wrong, especially that one night, almost killing that girl."

Mason stopped. He still couldn't look at Ginny.

Ginny couldn't look away from him.

Mason. Quiet, smiling, warm, friendly Mason… was anything but. He had always seemed so constant to her, almost like a sun of a sort. Now… now she had no idea what to think. Could a good person really do such terrible things? Was he still like that, deep inside? Had he ever really changed?

"I… I don't know what-"

The prefect shook his head.

"Don't say anything. I want you to let me finish completely. There is something that you still need to know, and it's not bad. I… I told you about Riddle's interest in immortality, right?"

"Yeah. Well, and he's told me quite a bit about it, too," Ginny said. "He's looking for some kind of tools to keep himself from dying, and that's the huge secret that Avery attacked you to get, that Riddle still wants from you."

Mason did not seem surprised by Ginny's knowledge of the subject. He simply nodded and said, "He misunderstood the information. The tools would not make him immortal."

Ginny relaxed.

"Okay. Then what's the big deal?"

"They would only make him invincible."

The Head Girl groaned; it felt like she was going to faint. This was all too much. Mason had just revealed to her that he was the nephew of a crazy Dark Lord, that he'd known Riddle had been behind Myrtle's death and hadn't said anything, and that he'd tried to kill someone without a second thought. Then, if that wasn't bad enough, there was also something out there that could make Voldemort stronger than he already was.

"You have got to be kidding me," Ginny moaned, burying her face in her hands. "This is getting to be ridiculous."

Hesitantly, as if he was unsure if she would want him to, Mason put a hand on Ginny's shoulder. It was supposed to be comforting, but the contact was so surprising that Ginny stiffened, prompting Mason to drop the hand. Ginny said nothing.

"He won't find out about them," Mason assured her. There was a silent, "_I'd die before that happened" _that seemed to be tacked onto the end of his sentence. This, if nothing else, convinced Ginny that Mason wasn't going to tell Riddle anything. She still had enough faith in him to not worry about his betrayal in that single matter.

"Okay," she said. "I trust you to keep Riddle in the dark. What about me, though? Can't you tell me what he's looking for?"

"And give him someone else to go after?" asked Mason. He shook his head. "No."

A small silence settled over the two, and Ginny wasn't sure what to say. She knew that she had agreed to tell Mason about herself, but wasn't sure if he had said everything he wanted to. The Head Girl was also unsure whether or not she should even fulfill her end of the agreement, knowing that Mason had past connections with both Voldemort and Grindelwald. _Especially_ knowing that he'd been raised to go against everything that Ginny stood for.

How deep were Mason's beliefs? Which side was he _really _on? Was there any chance at all that he would sell her out to Riddle?

"Ginny?" Mason asked hesitantly, pulling her from her thoughts. When the Head Girl turned to face him, she was surprised to see that he was looking in her direction. Their eyes met for a split second, but Ginny looked away immediately.

"Yeah?" asked Ginny.

"You said you had information. I… I promise I won't betray you. Can you at least tell me where you're from and what you're doing here? I may be able to help you with whatever you're doing."

Mason was pleading with her. Even if it wasn't in his words, it was in his voice, in his eyes, written all over his face. Maybe the information wasn't extremely important to him, but her trust was. Mason wanted to know that he hadn't lost her completely.

Ginny looked at the ground as if she could find her answer written there. With Riddle, everything had been black and white. He was a bad guy, and it was obvious. Hell, he had dark hair and eyes, devilish good looks, the enticing voice… he was practically Satan incarnate.

Skinny, curly-haired, warm-eyed Mason looked more like a sweet little puppy than anything else…

Then again, puppies didn't fire killing curses, or become Death Eaters, or spend the first ten years of their life hero-worshipping Grindelwald.

Ginny bit her lip and prayed that the right answer to come to her, that some of Dumbledore's cheesy advice would race to the front of her mind, but there was nothing. She'd have to guess, and, if the guess was wrong, well… she'd pay for it dearly.

With a shaky breath, the Head Girl got to her feet and took out her wand. Mason let out a low sigh and started to get to his feet, but Ginny put a hand on his shoulder to keep him down. He watched on in shock as Ginny cast every privacy spell that she could think of, knowing that she would be dead if anybody overheard what she was about to say.

When Ginny was finished, she took her seat and looked straight into Mason's eyes.

"If you tell any of this to _anyone_, the world as we know it would be completely destroyed. Do you understand this?"

Mason nodded gravely, and nothing on his face or in his eyes suggested any lack of honesty. Ginny took this as a good enough sign to begin speaking.

"I'm from the future, in case you didn't understand what I was telling you earlier," she started. "1998, to be exact… Things there, they weren't… they weren't good. An evil wizard… a wizard named Lord Voldemort-" Mason swallowed visibly, "-had just killed the one person who could have stopped him…"

Ginny broke off in a sob, and a few moments passed before she felt like she could speak steadily again.

"All those with 'impure' blood were forced to have their wands snapped… Those who fought against Riddle were to be killed or imprisoned, and Muggles… Muggles were supposed to be seen as less than human.

"Many of my family and friends were dead, and certain… events in my past prompted Dumbledore, who is headmaster in the future, to give me this." Ginny stopped and took the Stone of Eons out from under her shirt. Mason eyed it curiously, and she explained, "He altered its magic to take me back in time, so that I could make everything right. You know what Horcruxes are, right?"

A dark look crossed Mason's face, and he said, "Pieces of a person's soul. They're supposed to keep a person alive, even if their body no longer is. No one in their right mind would make one."

Ginny laughed darkly.

"Then I guess Tom Riddle isn't in his right mind. He has two already." Mason appeared to be absolutely horrified, but he remained silent, allowing Ginny to continue uninterrupted. "That's why I didn't just sneak into his room while he was asleep and Avada him. It's why I've been trying to get so close to him. I need to get him to trust me enough to give me those Horcruxes. Or… I shouldn't say that. I already know where he keeps one of them. That one, I can take by force if I need to. First, though-"

"You need to get him to show you where the other one is."

Nodding, Ginny replied, "Pretty much, yeah. Then I'll really kill him." She closed her eyes at her words, thinking about Riddle's offer of friendship, the sticking charm he'd used on Abraxas and Cassiopeia, the genuine amusement that he'd get on his face when she showed her more Hufflepuff-like characteristics.

It would be so grossly unfair to murder him.

Yet, Ginny would have to if she wanted to save her friends and family.

Kill him?" Mason asked.

"Yeah," said Ginny. Her voice sounded pained, even to her own ears. "Kill him."

Mason didn't look convinced. Ginny pretended to ignore this.


	28. Confusion

Ginny couldn't bring herself to pretend that everything was okay with Mason. A part of her wanted to, especially after seeing how much her evasive attitude hurt him, but the redhead had suffered too much to be able to trust just anyone.

Maybe Mason really had changed, but Ginny wasn't about to take any chances.

Unsurprisingly, Riddle took notice of Ginny's attitude towards Mason within a week of the big reveal.

"You seem upset with your friend," said the Head Boy as Ginny cleared off the coffee table in the Head's common room. A prefect meeting was scheduled to begin in ten minutes, and the table was cluttered with piles of Ginny's old papers.

Ginny turned to Riddle and sent him a fierce glower, but he only raised a brow inquisitively, as if wondering why his comment gave her such offense.

"You could have told me that he used to be a Death Eater," she said indignantly. "That would have been nice to know."

Riddle shrugged unconcernedly. He was already lounging in his emerald chair, watching Ginny clean as if it was the most entertaining thing in the world.

"I doubt that you would have believed me," Riddle said. Ginny began to protest, and he smirked. "Don't deny it. You may accept me in your own strange way, but you are too stupid to ever fully trust me."

This got Ginny to smile, and she admitted, "This is true."

She turned to throw away an unneeded piece of paper, but before her eyes left Riddle's face, she swore that she saw the shadow of a grin on his thin lips.

The Head Girl was just starting to marvel at how strangely comfortable she was beginning to feel in the Heir of Slytherin's presence when the portrait hole opened. Furrowing her brow, Ginny turned around, vaguely recalling that no one but Avery ever came early, and Avery was expelled, so…

A curse fell off Ginny's lips when Mason slipped through the portrait hole. Riddle laughed, but it didn't help to alleviate the tension that had crept into the room.

"Such wonderful timing that you have, McCreery," Riddle said, a smirk in his voice.

"Hello Mason," Ginny said. She stepped closer to Riddle without knowing why.

Mason glared at Riddle, then shot Ginny a weak smile. His eyes reminded her of a kicked puppy's.

"Well…" started Ginny, striving to avoid an awkward silence. "We're going over plans for the annual New Year's Ball today. Aren't you excited?"

Mason shook his head, but it apparently didn't have anything to do with Ginny's question, because, after a moment's hesitation, he said, "I trusted you."

It felt like Ginny had been smacked in the gut. All week, she'd been thinking about how terrible of a person Mason was, both for lying to her, and for the things that he had done in his past. It wasn't until he shot those two accusatory words in her direction that she realized she'd lied to him, too.

Ever since Ginny had figured out that Mason was hiding something, she'd assured him that he could tell her anything, that she wouldn't care, that nothing could be bad enough to push her away.

Well, he finally told her, and she'd run off, just like he had expected. Like a useless, flighty little Hufflepuff.

Ginny opened her mouth to say something to try to defend herself somehow, but she couldn't. Instead, she breathed, "I know."

Riddle chuckled in a way that made Ginny shiver, but Mason ignored this, sending one more desperate, pleading glance in her direction. She forced herself to look down and ignore it. With hasty, clumsy steps, the Head Girl retreated to the seat next to Riddle's, never tearing her eyes away from the thickly carpeted floor.

Thankfully, more prefects began arriving within minutes. Soon, the room was full, and the meeting was ready to begin. Ginny stood to make her usual introductions, but her brain was too focused on Mason to come up with the words that she needed to say. She opened her mouth to speak once, then twice, but nothing came out.

A loud sigh rang out from beside her, and then Ginny felt Riddle's tall frame unfold itself from his chair. A light hand rested on the small of her back, gently guiding Ginny back into her seat. The Head Girl was so out of it that she didn't protest.

After clearing his throat to shift everyone's attention away from the ghostly white Head Girl, Riddle announced, his voice velvety smooth and completely unconcerned, "I now convene this prefect meeting, November 18th, 1944. Our first order of business is to discuss everyone's progress appertaining to their orphans. Any questions or concerns are to be discussed now."

He reclaimed his seat, his steely eyes briefly resting on Ginny before he returned his attention to the prefects. "I have a concern," Cassiopeia announced.

"How nice," said Riddle. "Now, moving on-"

"But I _said_-"

Riddle continued like Cassiopeia hadn't spoken at all. Ginny loosely wondered why he'd abandon his usually mild-mannered façade with so little concern, then decided that he knew no one would blame him for acting like a jerk to Cassiopeia. In fact, it probably made him all the more likable.

"-it is now time to discuss the upcoming New Year's Ball."

"Will you go with me?" Christine Destler, a sixth year Gryffindor, questioned.

Riddle smiled at her captivatingly.

"I'm afraid that your question is charmingly off topic, Miss Destler," he said winningly. "I was _going to_ take suggestions for the Ball's decorations. Would you happen to have any ideas?"

Ginny zoned out while the prefects discussed the Ball. Normally, she would have loved to join in, but Mason's words were tugging at her chest, the indiscreet glances that the prefects threw in her direction were making her feel feverish, and Riddle's strange helpfulness did nothing but confuse her.

Riddle dismissed the prefects after the final theme for the ball was voted on. Ginny sighed in relief and began to retreat to her room, but stopped when an all too familiar voice called for her to wait.

The Head Girl closed her eyes and silently prayed, _Please, God, let Riddle chase him away. _

When Ginny looked, the Head Boy was still in his chair, his dark eyes fixed intently on Abraxas Malfoy. Unfortunately, his gaze was more calculating than violent. The Head Boy wouldn't kick Abraxas out; he was too interested in what the other Slytherin had to say.

"_What_," asked Ginny raggedly, "do you want?"

Abraxas's glowing blue eyes fell to the floor and, with shaking hands, he said, "I was an idiot."

Ginny rolled her eyes impatiently. She was not in the mood to speak to him.

"I already knew that, Abraxas. Please, tell me something I'll actually care to hear."

The Slytherin took a shaky breath, and Ginny didn't miss the way that he crept slightly closer to her, his hands extended pleadingly in front of him.

"I wasn't engaged to Cassiopeia when we were going out," Abraxas said urgently. Ginny opened her mouth to protest, but he quickly said, "Please believe me. I called it off before I asked you out. When you broke up with me, I may have gotten angry, and… I wanted to make you jealous. Everything that Stefan said that night was rehearsed… I'd told him to do it. I thought… I thought…" He sighed and admitted, "I don't know what I thought."

"Abraxas," Ginny said. She wanted him gone; he was beginning to worm his way back into her heart, and now that the Hufflepuff knew how dangerous he was, she was loathe to let that happen ever again. "Why are you telling me this? We're through… I don't care what you did after we broke up. It's what you said before…"

"I know," Abraxas said. There was a pained expression on his face. "I know, and I promise to work on that. I never saw how much it meant to you before, and, now that I know, I'll do better. If you could just give me one chance-"

"I already gave you a chance," said Ginny.

"One _more _chance," corrected Abraxas. "Please. Go to the Ball with me. Let me have that one night to win you back, and if I can't, then I promise that I'll leave you alone."

Ginny was already shaking her head. He was a Malfoy, and Malfoys didn't change that quickly, or that easily. Besides, it was in his best interest to stay engaged to Cassiopeia. If he broke up with her again, she might not take him back, and that would mess up everything… No, it was definitely best for her to stay away from Abraxas Malfoy.

"I'm sorry," Ginny said softly. "I can't go to the ball with you."

"Why not?" he asked. His eyes were smoldering with poorly concealed emotion. "Would it really be that big of a personal sacrifice? Am I _that_ bad?"

"No," said Ginny quickly. She didn't like this at all. "I… It's just that… I'm already going with someone."

Why did she say that? Why that, of all possible things?

"Really?" asked Abraxas skeptically. It was clear that he saw right through her terrible ruse. "And who would that be?"

Ginny hesitated. She wanted to say Mason, but she really didn't want to ask him. He'd see her invitation as a gesture of forgiveness when she wasn't sure that she was ready to forgive him. Mulciber was another option, but he seemed the type who didn't enjoy being used, and she didn't know what his reaction would be if she tried forcing him into attending with her… But were there any other guys…?

Suddenly Ginny felt someone come up behind her, seemingly out of nowhere. The Head Girl had to bite back the war-ingrained instincts that had her itching to curse the unseen threat.

"Who do you think it would be, Malfoy?" Riddle's smooth, stinging voice questioned. The Heir of Slytherin took a step closer to Ginny, settling a long-fingered hand on her shoulder.

Ginny turned to face Riddle, sending him her best _You have got to be bloody kidding me _look.

He smiled attractively.

"Riddle?" spluttered Abraxas. "You're going with _Riddle_?"

_Why not? _thought Ginny. Even though Lord Voldemort wasn't her ideal date, going to the ball with him would get Abraxas off her back. Besides, it was another bonding activity, something that would bring her closer to getting her hands on the Head Boy's diary.

"Don't look so surprised," Ginny said. "Weren't you the one who was so worried I'd leave you for him? If I were you, I'd be proud of yourself for being so sagacious."

"Wait... Did you just say you left me for him? You're… he… You two aren't…"

_Oh, shit. _

Ginny bit her tongue harshly, as if that would somehow erase her stupid words. She'd only meant to drive Abraxas away… her stupid Hufflepuff brain hadn't realized that he would take her statement like _that_.

"No, I mean… I didn't say…" she tried helplessly, but Abraxas was already shaking his head, looking at both of them with unveiled disgust.

"Well," Abraxas said darkly. "You just lost your chance at the Malfoy fortune. I hope you're happy."

Then he stomped out of the portrait hole, leaving Ginny standing next to Riddle in shocked silence.

"Did he just insinuate that we were a _couple_?" Riddle asked, sounding like he hadn't expected this turn of events any more than Ginny had. Merlin… the Head Boy was probably horrified.

"I… I think so," Ginny breathed. Realizing that Riddle would probably want this damage repaired as soon as possible, she sighed and sullenly said, "I'll go tell him the truth before people start saying that you're going out with a disgusting Hufflepuff. Abraxas probably wouldn't take me to the Ball anymore anyway, so I guess dealing with a small screaming fit isn't that big of a deal-"

Riddle's hand on her arm stopped her.

"Why don't we… have fun with this for a while?" the Head Boy suggested. He was smirking, but there was something different, almost genuine, about the expression. "I dislike Malfoy, and I would not mind keeping up this illusion for a short amount of time."

Ginny hesitated.

Pretending to go out with Riddle was a terrible idea, the kind of thing that would get her in a ridiculous amount of trouble. Being Lord Voldemort's girlfriend? A shiver ran down Ginny's spine at the thought.

Yet...

Abraxas had just admitted to going out of his way to hurt her, so maybe it wouldn't be _so _bad if Ginny got back at him, just a little bit. Besides, he would be beyond angry if she admitted to lying to him. As long as Riddle was willing to cooperate, well, a little acting wouldn't be _too _terrible.

"I… I guess," she said softly, unsurely. "But just until New Year's."

"Of course," said Riddle. His eyes were flashing with something very, very strange. "Just until New Year's."


	29. Friendships

Ginny was scared to go down to breakfast Monday morning. She had no doubt that Abraxas would have told Cassiopeia about her 'relationship' with Riddle, and it was a well-known fact that the curly-haired Slytherin was the most incorrigible gossip in the school.

People would talk. Erin and Allison would freak out. The Death Eaters would all glare menacingly. And Riddle…

The Head Girl honestly had no idea how Riddle was going to take the public reaction to Abraxas's misinformation. He might have condoned the fake relationship, but he could have allowed his hatred of Abraxas to cloud his judgment. Surely he would regret his decision when the gossip started, or when his own servants began judging him.

There was no way that this crazy lie was going to turn out well. No way at all.

With shaking hands, Ginny tossed her hair back into a ponytail, then nervously descended into the common room. Riddle was waiting for her, just as Ginny had become accustomed to.

"Maybe we should just tell everyone that Abraxas is crazy, and that we wouldn't go out with each other in a million years," Ginny said. She hopped off the last stair and landed right beside him, continuing to ramble nervously. "It would be a lot easier than all this acting. Besides, your 'buddies' will probably get mad at you for stooping to my level. I really think-"

Riddle's snort cut her off.

"I highly doubt that we will have to go out of our way to give merit to Malfoy's words, especially given how unlikely it is that _I _will be accused of lying about something so trivial," he said indifferently. "The weak-minded bovines that inhabit this school would believe that I was courting Dippet if I wished for them to think it."

Disturbingly, Ginny knew that the Head Boy was probably right.

"But, still…" she tried hesitantly. "What will your Death Eater friends think?"

"Taking into consideration their lack of ability to think in general, I am not too concerned of any 'thoughts' they might have on the matter." Ginny snorted out a laugh at Riddle's casual tone. The Head Boy arched a brow, but concluded, "I have no qualms with continuing our ruse, but if you do, feel free to counter Malfoy's rumors in any way that you see fit."

Ginny considered his words for a brief moment, then admitted, "I guess pretending to be a couple won't be _that_ difficult, and it obviously drives Abraxas crazy… It wouldn't do any harm, if you really don't mind helping me out."

"I think I made my indifference on the subject quite clear," Riddle said. Ginny smiled.

"Alright then. We can continue on with the plan." Swallowing slightly, she asked, "Shall we venture down to breakfast, oh sweet boyfriend of mine?"

"We shall, my angel," Riddle smirked, tipping his head slightly in Ginny's direction. With deliberate civility, he opened the portrait hole and helped a grinning Ginny through.

"You know," she said as they started down to the Great Hall, the truthful words falling from her lips before she thought about what she was saying. "You're actually kind of decent, once a person learns to look past the whole 'being evil' thing."

Riddle's usually smooth gait hitched for a moment before he continued forward with his normal easy strides.

"I would have figured that you would know me better than to say that I fulfill a Hufflepuff's idea of 'decent'," he said sarcastically.

The Head Boy was right, but Ginny found herself laughing anyway. A part of her asked why she was being so tolerant of Riddle when she knew that he was already a soulless murderer, while she avoided Mason like the plague for something he _almost _did, but she explained that away by telling herself that she was dealing with Riddle for the mission and nothing more.

"You're right," Ginny said offhandedly. "Either you're losing your touch, or I'm losing my mind."

Riddle said nothing to this, but by the look on his face, her words had him thinking more than Ginny had intended. Actually, the comment had her thinking, too. Riddle had been acting nice to her, and they'd actually been having relatively friendly conversations, but was he becoming a better person in general, or was Ginny just starting to get used to his caustic demeanor?

Ginny quickly told herself that she was just becoming immune to Riddle's less desirable qualities. It was her brain's method of self-preservation, so she wouldn't become too depressed from being around him so much. That's what it _had_ to be, because if Riddle was starting to grow as a person, then her job would get so much harder…

"I-" Riddle began, thankfully ripping Ginny away from her increasingly depressing thoughts. He shook his head and cleared his throat. "We've reached our destination."

Ginny started slightly, not having realized that they had made it to the Great Hall. She studied the big double doors for a moment, then swallowed.

"I'm guessing that you don't really want to skip in there while holding hands and reciting sappy poetry," Ginny commented.

"I agreed to help you get back at Malfoy, not make myself look like a fool," said Riddle. "As I said before, it will not be necessary to make a spectacle of ourselves."

Unsurprised by his reasoning, Ginny shrugged and tossed open the doors. The two Heads walked in side by side, and even though they were retaining a reasonable distance from each other, a chorus of whispers broke out immediately.

Ginny's face flooded with heat, but Riddle seemed unaffected.

"Sometimes I wonder at how easy it is to amuse some people," Riddle said, looking at the other students with disdain evident in his eyes. Evident to Ginny, anyway. She doubted that anyone else noticed.

"Be nice," Ginny scolded halfheartedly, knowing that asking Tom Riddle to be nice was like asking Ron to keep his mouth closed while he was eating.

Riddle gave her a 'You're a lot dumber than you look' glance and veered towards the Slytherin table. Ginny walked the rest of the way to the Hufflepuff table by herself, then plunked down between Erin and Allison. Allison pounced on Ginny before her butt hit her seat.

"I know that she's a Slytherin and obviously a really big liar, but Cassiopeia Black has been telling _everyone _that you and Riddle are going out. Well, she didn't say it that nicely. Her exact comment had something to do with Riddle being your desperate Mudblood man whore-" _Omigod, Riddle is going to kill her- _"and you having a taste for tall, handsome Slytherins, but I'm pretty sure that's not the case. Is it true, though? Are you and Riddle really going out?"

Ginny ducked her head and shrugged. She hated lying, especially to someone like Allison. "Er…" Riddle had said that she could back out whenever she wanted, that she didn't have to do this if she didn't want to. What was the big deal, anyway? Why was she going out of her way to get back at Malfoy, when it probably wouldn't upset him a whole lot in the first place?

She didn't know, but something kept her from telling Erin and Allison the truth.

"Yeah," Ginny mumbled, not looking at either of them. "It's true."

Allison opened her mouth, most likely to squeal, but her face paled and she shut it quickly, suddenly becoming engrossed in her breakfast. Ginny was about to ask her what was wrong, then felt the light, nervous hand on her arm.

"Ginny," Mason said softly. "I know you're mad at me, but we need to talk. Now."

Ginny didn't want to go with him. Her stomach still clenched up with guilt whenever she thought about what she had done to Mason, but forgiving him was so foreign and risky that she flinched at the idea. She bit her lip, trying to think of an excuse, but Erin was already waving her away. No doubt the other girl thought Ginny only hesitated because she didn't want to ditch her friends.

Mason's big brown eyes turned from urgent to pleading.

"I… Okay," Ginny said. Her eyes fell on the heaping plates of pancakes that lined the table, and she stifled a sigh. She was skipping one of her favorite breakfasts for an awkward conversation that she didn't want to have. Part of her was tempted to get Riddle's attention and let him help her out of it, but that would be downright cruel to Mason.

Mason led Ginny out of the Great Hall, and then down several random corridors. It wasn't long before he opened the door to an abandoned classroom and led her inside. As soon as the door was closed behind him, he turned to face Ginny, eyes bright with concern. Ginny's throat tightened.

He cared about her. He really cared about her. What in the hell was she doing to him? Mason's actions honestly weren't that much different than Ginny's during her first year. He hadn't been possessed, but he had been brainwashed. Just like Ginny.

"Do you have any idea what you're doing?" Mason asked. Ginny bit her lip.

"You don't-"

"I know you need to get close to him, but what you are doing right now is ridiculous. He can… he _will _hurt you. Ginny, I know you think I'm an unfeeling monster-" Ginny visibly flinched, yet found that no words came out of her mouth when she tried to contradict him "-but I am telling you the truth. Riddle will pull you in until you can't get out anymore."

Ginny shook her head. She knew what Mason was saying, but even if her relationship with Riddle wasn't fake, she had a feeling that the Head Boy valued their friendship enough to refrain from really hurting her.

"We're only pretending," Ginny said defensively. "Malfoy was bugging me about going to the ball with him, and Riddle stepped in to help. That's it. He won't perform any sacrificial mating rituals with me or anything, if that's what you're worried about.

Mason slowly took in her words, his posture relaxing as he realized what she was saying.

"Oh," he finally said. "Then I guess you'll be fine. I was just… worried."

Worried. Ginny had ditched Mason when he trusted her to stay, but now he was sticking around and watching out for her when she didn't deserve it at all.

"I…" Ginny swallowed, then gave Mason a sheepish smile. "Thanks."

There was a short awkward silence. Ginny knew that she'd have Care of Magical Creatures soon, but she didn't want to be the first to leave. It felt like both of them had a million more things to say, but neither knew exactly how to say them.

"Do you know why Riddle helped you?" Mason finally asked. It wasn't what Ginny had been expecting, but she shrugged anyway.

"He sees me as his friend, I think," said Ginny. "I defended him against Malfoy, and we talk a lot, so I guess he's just paying me back."

Ginny didn't like the way her words sounded coming off her tongue. It felt wrong, to talk about her strange, indefinable relationship with Riddle in such cold, simple terms.

"So your mission is going well," Mason said. His voice was cool and distant. Tentative.

"Yeah," said Ginny. She looked at her hands. "I think so."

There was another long silence. Somewhere, a bell gonged, signaling the end of breakfast. They had to go. Ginny didn't want to go. Malfoy was going to be intolerable.

"I'm sorry," Mason said. He coughed. "For disappointing you."

Ginny blinked, suddenly feeling very, very sick. Mason wasn't Tom Riddle. His past may have surprised her, but she had to stop viewing it as some kind of betrayal. It was hurting him, and, despite everything, she hated seeing Mason look so crummy.

"Don't say that," said Ginny. Her voice was nervous and pleading and kind of squeaky, just like a typical Hufflepuff. She wondered where her Gryffindor side had gone. "I- you aren't- I mean…"

She didn't know what to say or how to make her words make sense, so Ginny stood there helplessly, looking at Mason and wishing that he'd know how confused she was, how worried she was that he was going to be another charming, polite dark lord that tore her apart from the inside out, how she wanted so badly to fix everything, but didn't quite know how.

For once, Mason didn't see the meaning behind her words. He muttered a miserable, "Please be careful," then turned to leave. A little voice in Ginny's head whispered that this was possibly her last chance to save their friendship.

Forcing her legs to move, Ginny jumped in front of him and, smiling weakly, wrapped her arms around his thin waist. Mason stiffened almost imperceptibly, but Ginny felt him relax after a second, and she sighed and rested her head on his warm chest.

"I'm sorry," muttered Ginny. Mason held her more tightly, like he was worried that she was going to run away again.

"So am I," he breathed.

Ginny was fifteen minutes late for her first class, and she didn't care one bit.


	30. Trust

Professor Kettleburn glared at Ginny when she got to Care of Magical Creatures halfway through the class period. Suddenly she wished that she hadn't stayed with Mason for so long.

"Nice of you to join us, Miz Peverell," he said bitingly, turning away from the dog-like animal that rested on the ground in front of him. It was snowing lightly outside, and Ginny's eyes fell to his missing leg, waiting for him to slip from his hurried movement. He didn't.

"I'm sorry," said Ginny quickly. "I was…"

"Snogging Riddle in a broom closet," Abraxas muttered bitingly. The other Slytherins in the class laughed, and Ginny's face flooded with heat.

Ginny turned and faced him angrily, ready to come back at him with a venomous retort, but Kettleburn spoke before she got the chance.

"Nobody asked you, Mister Malfoy," he growled angrily. His dark eyes rested on Ginny once more. "Now, tell me, where've you been?"

"One of my prefects was having personal problems," Ginny said demurely, only half lying. She bit her lip and lowered her eyes. "If you want, I can tell you more later, but I really don't think he'd want me to say anything…"

Kettleburn's shrewd eyes studied Ginny intently, and, lowering his voice, he nodded and said, "As much as I'd love to know what that McCreery boy's hiding, I'd say it's not something he'd like you to tell me. Take your seat, Peverell."

Ginny blinked up at him, shocked.

"I never said anything about-"

"I said to take your seat," growled Kettleburn. Ginny opened her mouth to protest again, but the look in her professor's eyes stopped her. Huffing, she tromped over to where Abraxas was sitting and sat a few feet away from him; close enough to work together, but far enough that she didn't feel uncomfortable.

The Slytherin looked directly at her when Ginny when she sat down. It was an unwelcome change. Abraxas _had_ been acting like she didn't exist, which had made Ginny's life a good deal easier.

"He's not what you think he is," Abraxas said in a low voice. Kettleburn glanced at him, but chose not to comment.

Ginny glared at him.

"Who isn't?" she asked, feigning ignorance. "Kettleburn?"

"Riddle," hissed Abraxas. "Your bloody boyfriend."

"This," said Kettleburn, more loudly than necessary, "is a crup. It is a very volatile creature that will tear out your vocal chords if you continue talking, Mister Malfoy."

Abraxas glared at the teacher.

"My _apologies_, Professor. I'm quite done now."

"Watch your tongue, Malfoy. Sarcasm's almost as unattractive as jealousy," said Kettleburn, his eyes landing on Ginny for a second before they returned to Abraxas. The Slytherin got the message instantly.

"Jealousy? You cannot be insinuating that-" The crup at Kettleburn's feet growled, cutting off whatever Abraxas had been about to say. Abraxas clenched his teeth, but shut his mouth, instead glaring at the entire class as if he'd like to kill them all with his bare hands.

Ginny felt bad for him. _Almost_.

The rest of the class passed by relatively uneventfully, and Abraxas thankfully went back to ignoring Ginny, at least until Kettleburn dismissed them. Then, as if he didn't sense Ginny's hostility at all, he glued himself to her side as she hurried back to the castle.

"Just listen to me, you bloody moron," growled Abraxas. "I'm done asking you out, okay? I blew my chance, but I don't care. Just as long as it's not _Riddle_."

"And what in the hell is so bad about Riddle?" asked Ginny, like she didn't already know. The Head Girl wondered if Abraxas knew too, if that's what he was trying to tell her, but dismissed the idea. Abraxas would have given the Head Boy a lot more respect if he knew half of what Riddle was capable of.

"That Lestrange ape was asking about you at breakfast," said Abraxas. "He wanted to know what Riddle was doing with Hufflepuff. Do you know what the bastard said?"

Ginny stopped and turned around, having a few good guesses as to what the Head Boy had told his Death Eaters, and really not caring one bit.

"What?" she challenged, throwing her hands in the air. "What did he say?"

Abraxas finally caught up to Ginny and grabbed onto her arms, holding tightly so that she couldn't go anywhere. The Head Girl immediately started struggling to free herself, but Abraxas's grip was too strong.

Icy blue eyes locked with brown.

"He said you'd entertain him for a while," said Abraxas lowly. "He told Lestrange that he'd get some fun out of you, piss me off, and keep other girls off his back all at once. Then…" Abraxas swallowed angrily, his eyes seeming to glow with fire, "Then he said that he'd dump you once his fun was over, and see if he could make you cry worse than I did."

Ginny made a face. Riddle hadn't needed to make her sound like an impressionable idiot.

"He was lying," said Ginny. It was all she could think to say.

Abraxas laughed bitterly.

"You've got to be kidding me. You always thought the worst of me when we were going out, and now you're defending Riddle when it makes no sense. Don't you get it, Ginny? He's a Slytherin. He wouldn't be in that house if he was the perfect Head Boy you think he is. Slytherins don't make friends like he does, they don't smile all the time, they don't go out of their way to help people. Everything that he does is an act. _Everything_."

"Why in the hell do you care?" asked Ginny. She wanted Abraxas to leave, badly. "I would have figured that you'd be glad to see Riddle break my heart. What did you say? That I lost my chance at the Malfoy fortune?"

"Ginny," said Abraxas. "I don't… I don't hate you enough to want Riddle to tear you apart." He stepped closer to her, loosening his grip on her arms. "Why can't you listen to me? Get away from him. Find someone, anyone else."

Merlin, he was taking this in a totally different way than Ginny expected. He wasn't mad and jealous, at least not really… he was more worried than anything, and that made totally unnecessary guilt settle in the pit of Ginny's stomach.

"Abraxas," said Ginny. "Just… go."

"See? You can't even defend him. You have no idea what to say, do you? No mighty words to prop him up with."

"I-I have to get to potions."

"Get to Riddle, you mean?" asked Abraxas. "So you can complain to him about how I _never leave you alone_? Well, go ahead. Go complain that I care more than I should, and see what he has to say about it."

"Please," Ginny pleaded. "Stop. Just… stop." She started backing away, weakly trying to get her arms away from him, but she was too torn to put up much of an effort.

"Why?" asked Abraxas. He pulled on her arms, tugging her closer to him. His hands went from her arms to her waist, and he leaned down, brushing noses with her, breathing his sweet-smelling breath into her face.

Ginny swallowed weakly, knowing that she had to get away, that anything that had to do with Abraxas was poisonous, that she'd already messed up way too much by letting herself go out with him in the first place.

His eyes burned bright blue.

"I don't care what you do," Abraxas said. "Just get away from Riddle."

Riddle. Ginny took a deep breath, reminded herself that Riddle was her friend. He wasn't really going to break her heart. Abraxas wasn't being heroic. He was just confused.

Ginny shook her head and backed up.

"No. I… I know more about Riddle than you'd think," she said. "And I like him anyway. I don't believe that he said those things about me." Ginny took another step back. "I'm sorry Abraxas. I… Merlin, you don't know how much I appreciate the warning, but I still like-"

"Me," finished another voice, one that made Ginny jump with shock. She struggled to keep herself from whirling around guiltily, instead settling for wondering how long Riddle had been watching.

"Riddle," muttered Abraxas, distaste evident on his face. Ginny opened her mouth to warn him to watch his tongue, but, before she could speak, the Head Boy moved closer to her, slipping an arm around her waist and drawing her close to him in an unmistakably possessive way.

Ginny fidgeted at Riddle's closeness, but she kept herself from pulling away. Riddle was just acting to prove a point. There was no reason that she should care how warm he was, or how good he smelt… no reason that she couldn't completely disregard the way that she felt his chest rise and fall with every breath he took.

"He hasn't been bothering you, has he?" asked Riddle, adding the perfect angry-boyfriend edge to his voice. The one that forewarned extreme trouble if Ginny happened to answer 'yes'.

"No," said Ginny quickly. Riddle took a small step towards Ginny, the movement shifting his hand just slightly, so that his long, spidery fingers lightly brushed her stomach. Ginny stiffened, absolutely hating the way that her heart had started to thud in her ears. "We were just… talking. Believe me, if I had needed to, I could've handled him perfectly fine on my own."

Riddle didn't move his hand. Ginny bit her lip to keep herself from swatting it away.

"Of course. I forget that you've taken care of him once before," smirked Riddle, Looking at Abraxas, he continued, "And it would do you good to remember that as well." Then, his arm still around Ginny's waist, Riddle led her back up to the castle.

As soon as they were in the school and away from Abraxas, Ginny shrugged out of Riddle's grasp.

"Did you have to do _that_?" she hissed, brushing at her robes and trying not to think about how close she had just been to _Lord Voldemort_. She could still smell him.

Riddle completely ignored her, instead accusingly saying, "You're feeling guilty. We haven't been doing this for more than one day, and you're already starting to feel guilty."

"Don't ignore me," Ginny said snappishly. Riddle help up his hands innocently.

"Okay, I'll cut back on the acting if it makes you that uncomfortable," he said waspishly. "Now, _please_ tell me what in the hell is going on with you and Malfoy. Why does he suddenly have you looking like a kicked puppy?"

Ginny blew her hair out of her face uncomfortably.

"Abraxas was so worried," she said. "I… I don't like him, but he said that he didn't care if I went out with him… he just didn't want me going out with you."

Laughing harshly, Riddle muttered, "What a martyr. What was his problem with me this time? Was it the typical Mudblood dribble, or did he have a more substantial complaint?"

"We're going to be late for potions," Ginny said, grabbing Riddle's hand and leading him off to a secret passage that would act as a shortcut to the dungeons. The Head Boy briskly followed, his eyes impatient. Ginny sighed. "As for your question, well, Abraxas _might've _overheard you talking to Lestrange at breakfast this morning. He's under the impression that you're trying to turn me into a sobby mess of Hufflepuff."

Riddle's eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"Great," he muttered sarcastically. "He can't listen to save his life, but when I _want _him to keep to himself, he's suddenly Sherlock Holmes... What did you say to him after he told you how terrible of a person I was?"

"I accused him of lying to me."

"Good enough. Maybe that'll discourage him." The two walked on in silence for a bit, and then Riddle commented, "I saw you and McCreery leave breakfast together. What came of that?"

"Er…" said Ginny. "He was worried that I was dating you, I told him our relationship was fake, and we kind of made up."

"Made up?" asked Riddle, raising a suspicious brow. "Do I have any reasons to be jealous."

Ginny made a face.

"As flattering as it is that you care so much, no, you honestly don't," she said. Then, tentatively, she asked, "You're fine that I'm his friend, though, right? I know that you aren't exactly fond of him."

"Yes, I'm fine," said Riddle.

Eyes lighting up with surprise, Ginny asked, "You are?"

Riddle studied her closely, then slowly asked, "What would I think, Peverell, if you chose not to forgive McCreery for faults that are almost _exactly _like my own… faults that he has improved upon, where I have not? As much as I despise him, I've never wanted you to hate him."

Ginny's eyes widened in realization.

"You were worried that if I decided to hate Mason," said Ginny, voice laced with surprise, "I'd start hating you, too."

Riddle glared.

"Not worried," he said. "I was simply bothered by the possibility."

Riddle had been concerned about Ginny's opinion of him. He was actually worried about how she perceived him, whether he actually admitted it or not.

How would he react if he knew that Ginny was supposed to kill him? That she _did _hate him?

Then Ginny pulled up short.

Did she hate Riddle? She looked at the Horcrux that glittered on his hand, thought of the wand in his pocket that had already killed his own father, imagined how many more he would kill as he got older… this person, this boy in front of her, had murdered Charlie without a second thought. He was a monster, less than human, and yet…

Ginny found that she couldn't answer her own question. She wanted to hate Riddle. She should have hated Riddle. Yet, when she thought about their friendship, about the times that he'd helped her, or his confusion when it came to his treatment of others, she found that she almost, kind of, in a very strange way, did consider him as something of a very, very distant friend.

The thought made her stomach curl.

Ginny looked up at the Head Boy and found him waiting for her to say something, anything, and, remembering the mission, she reassured him, "I wouldn't have hated you, Riddle."

"Why not?" Riddle asked. "If you were so disgusted with McCreery, why shouldn't you be just as disgusted with me?"

"I wasn't disgusted with Mason," Ginny said quickly. "It's just…" She hesitated for a moment, unable to believe that she was really going to tell him what her heart told her he'd want to hear, but, finally, the Head Girl managed to continue, "When I was younger, I trusted someone I shouldn't have… someone who played the part of my best friend flawlessly, and, well… he ended up hurting me really badly. Mason reminded me of him. I thought he was gentle and steady… a normal Hufflepuff, and then he wound up having this huge terrible history that's unnervingly like this other person's, and it scared me. A lot."

Riddle shook his head.

"That explains your behavior with McCreery, but I still don't get…"

He trailed off and started walking faster, like he was hoping to get out of the passageway and into populated place, where Ginny would be forced to drop the subject. The Head Girl jogged to keep up with his long strides.

"But, what, Riddle?" Ginny pressed.

He shook his head. Ginny stepped in front of him and resolutely put her hands on her hips, just like her mother would have done.

"Say what you were going to say, because I'm not going to move unless you do."

Riddle sneered.

"You honestly don't think that I can move you myself?"

The Hufflepuff stood up a little bit straighter.

"I don't think that you want to move me. Now tell me what you don't get, or else I'll feed you eye-brow-growing potion in your sleep."

The Head Boy glowered and opened his mouth, no doubt to make a biting comment, before he cut himself off. He clenched his jaw, unclenched it, then let out a low, long breath.

Finally, he forced himself to speak.

"I don't get why you waste your time with Mason or me. If you're worried about trust, shouldn't you find some different friends?"

Ginny took a few seconds to figure out what she was going to say, then began, "I'm your friend because I like you, Riddle. You're blunt and sarcastic and insanely smart, and, even though you've done terrible things, I still think that your friendship is worth a little risk. Now come on, I got out of a tardy this morning, but I don't think Slughorn will let me off that easily."

"Insanely smart?" asked Riddle, the very corners of his lips turned up a small amount. "I had no idea that you thought so highly of me."

"Maybe I shouldn't have said that," laughed Ginny. "Your head was already big enough-"

The Head Girl was cut off by an obnoxiously loud squeal.

"Omigosh, it _is _true! Ginny, why didn't you tell me!" Allison shouted as she sprinted towards them from the end of the hallway. Ginny sighed and shot Riddle an apologetic look.

Riddle pasted on his best smile, and Ginny hastily convinced Allison that they needed to get to potions, but promised her that they could talk about it more later.

The Head Boy mentioned study plans with his friends. Ginny was completely unsurprised.


	31. Loss of Control

_What are three possible reactions that can occur if dragon's blood is added to asphodel? _

Ginny studied the question carefully, but no answers came to mind. Slughorn must've mentioned it while she wasn't paying attention.

Brown eyes inched towards Riddle's paper, but Riddle noticed and turned his already completed quiz over. Ginny sighed. Stared at the question. Looked at the clock. Back at her quiz.

Slughorn's timer clicked down to one minute. Ginny lifted her quill to the page.

_1. Things… terrible, terrible things. _

_2. Madam Lucas will suddenly become extremely busy. _

_3. The __**great**__ Professor Slughorn will grow very angry. _

She hoped that her use of the word 'great' would not go unnoticed. Maybe Slughorn would be so thrilled about Ginny's high opinion of him that he would fail to notice that she had no idea what was going on.

The alarm charm went off on Slughorn's clock, and the students passed their quizzes to the front. Ginny sighed over-dramatically and turned to Riddle.

"Thanks for helping me on that last question, Honey-Sweet," she said sarcastically. "You're such a _great _boyfriend."

Riddle shrugged, but his eyes shone with amusement.

"You didn't need my help. Dragon's blood and asphodel combine to create a toxic gas."

"Seriously?" asked Ginny, hopping to her feet with a smile on her face. Riddle gave her a look that said, "_When am I not serious?", _and Ginny started laughing. "I mean, I totally knew that. That's why I answered the question so awesomely."

Riddle chuckled as they exited the room together. The laugh wasn't quite genuine, but Ginny still marveled at how beautiful the sound was. There was something strangely unreal about making Lord Voldemort half-laugh.

"It's easy enough to tell when you're confused, Peverell. Your eyes go blank and your mouth hangs open. It's quite similar to Macmillan's usual look."

Ginny elbowed the Head Boy in his ribs, laughing as she said, "Allison does _not _look like that." As an afterthought, she added, "And neither do I."

"Really," said Riddle. "Have you looked at a…" The Head Boy's voice trailed off in the middle of his sentence, and a strangely worried expression crossed his features. Ginny opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, but Riddle grabbed her shoulders before she got the chance. Without warning, he hastily began leading her in the direction of a secret passage. "Peverell. Go straight to the common room. Hurry. Don't-"

"What's going on?" Ginny asked, starting to panic. She tried to break out of Riddle's grasp, but he switched his grip so that he was holding her around the waist, clutching her so tightly that she could hardly breathe, and forcing her forward at the same time.

"Peverell," said Riddle.

"Let me go!" shrieked Ginny, kicking and flailing and starting to get very, very scared.

"_Ginevra_," hissed Riddle. Ginny took a deep breath to scream again, then froze. He wanted her to listen. Riddle really, really wanted her to listen. Biting back panic, Ginny took a deep breath and focused her attention on the Head Boy, who was so close and so tall that he made her feel like a very small child.

"Something is happening that… shouldn't be. I…" He tilted his head like he was listening for something, then let out a low, frustrated curse and a muttered syllable that sounded a lot like 'Malfoy?'. Riddle shook his head as if trying to clear it, then met Ginny's gaze. "Go straight to the common room. I'll explain everything once I get this problem… taken care of."

"Riddle," said Ginny. "No one's hurt, right?"

The Head Boy didn't turn around, said, "Not yet", then disappeared down the corridor in a flurry of hurried steps and dark robes.

Ginny stared after him, wondering what in the world had gotten Riddle so concerned… so panicked, almost.

Almost in a daze, Ginny took his advice and rushed to the Head's common room, not daring to disobey the Head Boy's urgent orders.

…

Riddle didn't come back, and he didn't come back. One hour passed, then two, and Ginny continued to sit in her big yellow chair and worry. Finally, at half past five, the portrait hole creaked open, and Ginny shot to her feet, relieved that Riddle had finally reappeared.

It wasn't him. Grace Martian had a question about the next prefect meeting. Ginny shooed her away irritably. She was beginning to grow restless. Uncomfortable. The Stone of Eons seemed to grow heavier around her neck, as if its weight was increasing with the darkness of her mood.

Ginny tried reading a book. Watched the fire. Looked at the gentle snowfall outside. None of it helped. She couldn't get Riddle's surprise out of her head, the look of frustration and, Ginny swore, confusion that had found its way onto his face.

Something bad was happening- something that had affected Riddle with an abnormal potency.

The clock struck six. Three hours. He'd sent Ginny away three hours ago and still wasn't back. What could be taking up so much of his time?

Ginny began studying the wide array of books that lined the room's shelves. Riddle had magically changed the bindings on most of them, hiding dark spells and illegal magic under covers of fourth year potions and Ancient Runes texts. The Head Boy's old bible sat heavily on one of the lower shelves, and _The Odyssey _rested right beside it.

The Head Girl picked up the old Muggle novel, one that Hermione had mentioned numerous times, and cracked it open.

The title page read, '_Reanimating the Dead'. _

Ginny snorted and replaced the book. Always so cheerful, Tom Riddle was.

Returning to her seat, Ginny hugged her knees tightly to her chest. She hoped that she wasn't making a fool out of herself. If Riddle had taken care of the problem and simply forgot to tell her that everything was okay…

The portrait hole swung open before Ginny could continue her thought. Fearing that it wouldn't be Riddle, the Head Girl forced herself to stay put until she saw Riddle's tall figure climb into the common room. Ginny's lips stretched into a smile of unwanted relief.

She hopped anxiously to her feet.

"What's going on?" Ginny asked, running over to where Riddle was standing. "You looked so worried, and… I've never seen you like that before. Are you okay, Riddle?"

The Head Boy ignored her briefly, not saying anything as he crossed the room and sat in his usual seat. His eyelids fluttered shut, and a shuddering breath escaped his rigid form.

A few tense minutes passed before Riddle opened his eyes. Their gazes locked, and his dark eyes seemed to look through her, down into her soul.

"What do you think that I am capable of, Peverell?" Riddle asked.

Ginny blinked, not having expected her inquiries to be answered with a question, especially not a question like that.

"I don't know… I mean…"

"You know that I'm evil," Riddle interrupted brusquely. "You saw what I did to Mulciber. Tell me, how bad do you think that I really am? No philosophical answers. Just say it. What is the worst kind of evil that you believe I am capable of performing?"

Swallowing, Ginny remembered Riddle's Horcruxes, but she was not supposed to know about those. There was a certain answer that he was looking for, and Ginny had no doubt what it was.

"Murder, Riddle," she said, not breaking their eye contact. "I _know _you would be capable of murder."

Riddle nodded.

"Good. I didn't think you were naïve enough to think otherwise, but you _are _a Hufflepuff. Do you think I've killed before?"

Ginny refused to look away from Riddle, from his dark eyes, his tense face, the strangely unguarded expression that he was wearing- an expression so crowded with emotion that it was impossible to dictate exactly what he was feeling.

"I know you have," Ginny said softly. Riddle stiffened, but she steadily continued, "Mason told me. I didn't mention it. It didn't seem like a big deal."

The Head Boy exhaled sharply. It looked like he was going to comment on Ginny's apparent apathy, but he shut his mouth again and paused to reorder his thoughts.

"That makes this easier," said Riddle finally. "I don't have to tell you what I did, only how I did it… I'm sure you're familiar with the story of the four founders. You have heard it, haven't you? Are familiar with the fate of Salazar Slytherin?"

"He was kicked out of Hogwarts for refusing to let Muggleborns into the school, right?" asked Ginny, feigning ignorance.

"Yes," said Riddle. "However, it goes a lot deeper than that… After Slytherin departed, it was long rumored that he had left a monster somewhere inside the school… a creature that his heir could use to purge Hogwarts of all Mudbloods, to make it pure, just as he had intended." Ginny's heart began beating faster as she realized what Riddle was talking about. "Years passed, and these rumors died down. Then, two years ago, messages started appearing on the walls. Students were turning up petrified. A Ravenclaw was found dead."

"A creature that his _heir _could use," said Ginny, doing her best to sound like she hadn't known this information since she was eleven. "You're talking about… yourself?"

Riddle studied Ginny's features carefully, as if he was looking for signs of revulsion or fear. Ginny, of course, didn't let herself show anything. She had known about Riddle's actions for a long time, and honestly, his little basilisk phase didn't hold a candle to the family reunion that he'd had with his father and grandparents the year before.

"You're right," said Riddle finally. He laughed darkly. "Of course you are. I am the Heir of Slytherin; I released the monster, a basilisk, without caring about who or what it killed. After the girl died, Dippet threatened to shut down the school, and I was forced to stop the attacks and frame someone else—"

"Hagrid," Ginny said. "Abraxas told me about that. Mason said you tried to make him take the blame, but when he refused, you went and set up Hagrid."

"Unfortunately, yes, he was the most convenient option," Riddle said, a strange look on his face, almost as if he wished for Ginny to stop speaking about what had happened. Speaking briskly, he continued, "And though I'm sure that you have much more to say to me about my actions, I'm not finished yet."

"You aren't?" asked Ginny. She didn't think that there was any more to the story. "What else is there?"

"The basilisk is supposed to obey the Heir of Slytherin," said Riddle. "It's supposed to listen to everything that I tell it to do, but I heard it earlier, crawling through the pipes and looking for _Malfoy_."

"_What_?" shrieked Ginny, hopping to her feet. "Your pet basilisk is chasing after _Abraxas?" _

Riddle stood, too, stepping closer to Ginny and glaring fiercely. When he spoke, his voice was laced with frustration.

"I did not tell it to, and it would never go after a pureblood unless _someone_ ordered it. I speak Parseltongue, so I attempted to reason with it, but the stupid snake refused to acknowledge any of my orders."

Ginny's hands started to shake.

"Well, isn't this just peachy!" she cried, working very, very hard not to panic. Memories of her first year came flooding back, and the Head Girl found it a struggle not to lose her head. "Slytherin's basilisk is going to kill all of us!"

"Peverell," Riddle hissed. "If you start acting like a Hufflepuff now, I might just _order _that basilisk to kill you. Calm down."

Ginny took a shaky breath. Right. She needed to relax. Panicking wouldn't help anything.

"Okay," she breathed. "I'm fine. It's just… what are we going to do about this?"

Riddle ran a hand through his dark hair.

"I'll work on it, Peverell. Just don't get too far away from me. I doubt that it will go after you, but at least I'll be able to hear it coming if it does."

Ginny looked at the Head Boy strangely, finding it odd that he was going so far out of his way to protect her, but nodded.

"Alright, I'll try. And please, don't let it kill Abraxas. I'm mad at him, but I really, really don't want him to die."

"As little as I care about your ex-boyfriend," Riddle said, "I refuse to let it kill _anyone_. If Hagrid is proven innocent, Hogwarts _will_ be shut down. That can't happen, Peverell."

"Oh," Ginny said, eyes widening as she took in that possibility. If Hogwarts was shut down, her mission would be toast. "I… I don't know what I'd do if that happened."

Riddle didn't answer, but something in his eyes told Ginny that he was thinking the exact same thing.

**A/N- **

**I was starting to get the feeling that the plot in the last few chapters was getting a little thin, so this new twist came right on time. As always, I'd love to hear any guesses that you have concerning what's going on, although it's probably too early to have a really good grasp of this one yet. **

**Lastly, in case you haven't noticed, I'm getting very, very close to 400 reviews. I'll seriously die of happiness if you could get me up there by time I update again. You've been so awesome lately that I know it won't be a problem, right? **

**Thanks so much for reading and reviewing, and I'll update ASAP. **

**~bballgirl32~**


	32. Dreams and Reality

_"What are you doing? Stop! No!" _

_Ginny heard the words coming to her as if from a great distance and were twisted with terrible anguish, but Ginny felt no pity… the voice, though smooth and angelic, terrified her. _

_Then, all of the sudden, something strange began happening. A thick fog lifted from Ginny's mind, and everything grew much, much closer. Ginny could feel cold stones underneath her, and musty air irritating her nose. Every inch of her body was sore and tired, as though she had just run a long marathon. Her eyelids were heavy and she wanted to sleep, but terrible, terrible memories were starting to come back to her, and an awful feeling was settling in the pit of her stomach. _

_Slowly, Ginny peeled her eyes open and sat up. _

_Harry was sitting right beside her, watching her carefully. Ginny began to feel relieved, but then she really looked at him. _

_His robes were torn and streaked with blood and grime, and he was holding the diary- the dreadful book that had ruined everything. _

_Horror crept into Ginny's heart as her eyes continued to roam the Chamber. There was blood splattered across the flood, but, even more terrifying was the enormous snake that was lying dead in the middle of the Chamber. It was bigger than any creature Ginny had ever seen, with its mouth hanging open, providing an excellent view of its arm-length fangs. _

_Ginny opened her mouth to begin telling Harry everything, to apologize, to come clean, but she did not have the chance to speak before Harry disappeared. In his place knelt Tom Riddle. _

_He was smiling. _

_"You really thought that _Potter _would save you?" he asked. "You betrayed everyone. Why would The Boy Who Lived_ _want to help you?" _

_"Tom, please let me go!" Ginny pleaded, backing away, trying to move quickly but too tired to do so. _

_The Heir of Slytherin took a giant step forward, easily cutting off her pathetic attempt at escape. _

_"Let you go?" asked Riddle. "Why would I do that? My basilisk is hungry, and I believe that you have ceased to be of any use to me." _

_Something shifted out of the corner of Ginny's eye. Her head jerked towards the basilisk. It was moving. _

_"Tom!" shrieked Ginny. "Please! I'll do anything, I swear! I TRUSTED YOU! TOM!" _

_Riddle only started laughing as the enormous basilisk lifted its head. Ginny tried to move, but found herself frozen. Smooth, angelic laughter filled her ears as the snake lunged at her, a mouthful of fangs getting closer and closer. _

_Ginny screamed. _

"God Dammit! Wake up, Peverell!"

Ginny woke up with a start, her heart thudding against her chest, loose strands of hair clinging to her face with sweat. She was sitting up, and someone was shaking her roughly. Ginny blinked several times to focus her eyes, then jerked backwards.

He was there. It wasn't a dream. God, Tom was going to, he was going to-

Wait.

Ginny took a deep, shuddering breath.

This was not the Tom from the diary. He was older, his face more open, his eyes not so dark. It was Riddle. Her friend.

"I-"

Ginny paused for a moment to regain her bearings. She was in her room. There was no basilisk. She was not lying on a hard stone floor, but in her soft, comfy bed, and Riddle wasn't threatening to kill her, he was sitting on the bed beside her…

Wait…

"Riddle," said Ginny, her voice weak and breathless. "Why are you in my room?"

Dark eyes fixed on Ginny's face, glowing in the dim light. They were strangely different from the cruel, evil eyes that her nightmare Tom had had. These ones held an unnamable emotion that made Ginny feel strangely safe.

"You were screaming," Riddle said tonelessly, making no move to get off of Ginny's bed, or to let go of her shoulders. "I could hear it from my room. At first I was going to ignore it, but then you kept getting louder and louder. I worried that it wasn't just a nightmare."

"Oh," Ginny whispered, thankful that it was still too dark for Riddle to see her red cheeks. "I'm sorry. Um. Thanks for waking me up."

Riddle shifted. He seemed to finally remember that he had been holding onto Ginny's shoulders and dropped his hands into his lap. They fell into complete silence. A raven cawed outside.

Ginny sat stiffly at first, but after a while she ceased to wonder why Riddle wasn't leaving and rested her head back onto her pillow. Her heartbeat had already slowed to normal, and she felt strangely peaceful. The first light of dawn was sneaking through her thin yellow curtains, giving the room a gentle glow, and Riddle's deep, even breathing filled the quiet with a musical steadiness that had Ginny creeping back towards sleep.

Despite just dreaming that this man wanted to kill her, Ginny felt unfathomably comfortable in his presence.

"You're worried about the basilisk," Riddle finally said softly. Ginny yawned and nodded.

"Mm-hmm," she said sleepily. "It's crazy, but even after you killed that girl… I'd feel a lot safer if it was listening to you."

"Then why," said Riddle, "... Why were you screaming _my _name?"

Ginny had to bite her tongue to keep herself from cursing. Suddenly all of her tiredness was gone, and her attention was focused on Riddle. He didn't _seem _to be upset, but the Head Boy was so good at hiding his emotions that Ginny couldn't be sure.

"Er," she said. "I honestly… I can't remember. But Riddle?"

He was looking at her strangely, but asked, "What?"

"You know that I'm too thickheaded to be scared of you, right? I mean, I would've quit arguing with you a long time ago if that was the case."

Ginny closed her eyes, but she could still feel Riddle staring at her, studying her intently for a very, very long time. Then, just as Ginny was getting ready to ask what he could possibly be looking at, the Head Boy stood up.

"I should let you get back to sleep," he said. "You look fatigued, and I am beginning to get tired as well.

"Alright," yawned Ginny, already snuggling more deeply into her covers. "G'night Riddle. And thanks. A whole bunch."

The Head Boy only said, "It was no problem", then ghosted out the door.

Ginny swore that she heard the portrait hole slam shut a few moments later, but wrote it off as her imagination. Even Riddle didn't get up at five in the morning.

Within moments, Ginny was asleep again.

…

When Ginny woke up later that day, it was already past eleven. With a silent curse at the late time, the Head Girl scrambled out of bed and down the staircase. If she hurried, she might be able to scrap some breakfast from the kitchens before the elves put everything away in preparation for lunch.

Riddle and Lestrange were sitting together in the common room, talking about something or another, when Ginny rushed down her staircase. Ginny gave the Head Boy a quick, "Good morning", then moved to rush out the portrait hole.

Ginny hadn't expected Riddle to acknowledge her, but his curt, "Where do you think that you're going, Peverell?" had her falling back to earth.

Right. The basilisk. She wasn't supposed to go out on her own.

"Um. Breakfast," Ginny said nonchalantly. "Don't worry. I'll be back ASAP."

Riddle locked gazes with Ginny, and she could see that he was unsure of how to act. He was worried, but obviously didn't want to go out of his way to take care of her.

"I have not heard anything yet this morning," said Riddle finally. "Go ahead. Lestrange will find and notify you if anything changes."

Lestrange's head jerked up, as if he hadn't been paying attention, and he looked at Riddle with a 'Who? Me?' expression on his face. Ginny didn't blame him. He wasn't exactly a stereotypical messenger boy.

Ginny prayed that Riddle didn't hear anything.

"Great. That's… wonderful, Riddle," Ginny told him. Then she hurried out of the common room before Riddle could propose that Lestrange escort her instead.

As Ginny walked, her thoughts left Riddle and Lestrange and strayed to the giant snake that was apparently roaming the school. Her steps grew slower and more careful than usual, and her eyes wouldn't stop darting from side to side. Ginny told herself that she was being silly, that the basilisk didn't go after purebloods, but Riddle had said that it had been focusing on Abraxas the night before, and her own experience put her on edge even more.

Thankfully, Ginny made it to the kitchens without a problem. With a sigh of relief, she reached up to tickle the portrait of the pear, but was forced to jump back at the last moment as someone opened it from the other side.

Ginny regained her footing just as Abraxas stepped out of the kitchens. He had been laughing at something, but the sound died in his throat when he saw Ginny, the smile that had been on his face fading for a moment before it returned, stiffer and more cautious than before.

"Come on, Abraxas. What's taking so long?" a familiar voice drawled from behind him. A second later, Abraxas was shoved out of the way, and Orion Black followed him into the corridor.

Orion's eyes settled on Ginny. He smiled attractively.

"Ah, it's our little Hufflepuff friend." The stocky Slytherin laughed as he continued, "You look like you just rolled out of bed. Did Riddle keep you up all night?"

Ginny's cheeks turned bright red at Orion's words, her embarrassment made much worse by the fact that he was actually right in an extremely roundabout way. The look of absolute horror on Abraxas's face told her that he had misinterpreted her blush.

The Head Girl stomped her foot in annoyance.

"Not just Riddle," said Ginny sarcastically. She narrowed her eyes in Abraxas's direction. "Yaxley and Nott stopped by, too. As your wonderful fiancée noted, I have a taste for handsome Slytherins."

"Why are you snapping at me?" asked Abraxas. "I never said anything."

Ginny took a step closer to him.

"No, but you were insinuating _something_."

Abraxas moved angrily in Ginny's direction, his cheeks already turning red, and his eyes shining with something that wasn't quite anger. Orion laughed under his breath, but Ginny pretended not to hear him.

"Why in the hell should you care about what I insinuate? Nothing I say counts for anything, anyway, since I'm such a terrible, awful person," said Abraxas lowly.

_And there he goes with the guilt trip. _

Why couldn't Abraxas react to being dumped like a _normal _guy? Was there some messed up lobe in his brain that had him acting like a bipolar teenage girl, instead of someone with a rich fiancée who was absolutely obsessed with him? He was making things a million times more difficult than they needed to be!

"I never said you were a bad person!" cried Ginny. "I just called you an arsehole!"

Abraxas started to say something, but then he took a deep breath and stared at Ginny until an almost goofy smile stretched across his features. Running a hand through his hair, the Slytherin laughed once and said, "Please tell me that you aren't serious."

Ginny had to smile, too, just because the look on Abraxas's face was so perfect.

"I guess they're kinda the same thing, huh?" she asked.

"Pretty much," chuckled Abraxas. The tense mood was gone, and, sighing, the Slytherin admitted, "That probably means I'm a little bit of both, huh?"

His eyes belonged on a kicked puppy.

"I don't know about that," tried Ginny. She frowned. Why was she acting nice to him? Abraxas was off limits- _completely. _Messing with Abraxas meant messing up the timeline even more than it already was, and that was a very, very bad thing.

Maybe she felt bad for him because he was getting chased by a basilisk.

Yes, of course. That was _exactly _what it was.

"You know I was," said Abraxas. "I hadn't been thinking clearly… like an idiot, I figured that you'd come running back to me if I could make you jealous enough. Great plan that was, especially since I was already back in second place."

_"I'm not going out with Riddle." _

Ginny opened her mouth, dying to say those six words. Abraxas didn't deserve to be tricked anymore, and making him mad was a stupid plan to begin with. Besides, if Ginny told him the truth, he would probably hate her badly enough that she wouldn't have to worry about getting too close to him ever again.

"Abraxas…"

"As great as this heart-to-heart is, can we please get going, Abraxas?" Orion spoke up. "Walburga wants to go to Hogsmeade, and she is going to throw a fit if I'm not ready soon."

Ginny sighed in relief, actually thankful for Orion's waspish interruption. Abraxas didn't seem to share her opinion, unfortunately. The blond nodded resignedly, then took a couple steps backwards, like he wanted to leave but wasn't quite able to turn away from Ginny.

"Er, Abraxas?" asked Ginny. "I… I'm sorry, too. If you wouldn't mind, we can still be friends."

_Good Merlin, Riddle's going to kill me. Hell, this time I probably deserve it. _

Abraxas released his breath in a whoosh of air, his lips turned up into something like a smile.

"Alright," he said, starting to turn. "Friends… I guess it's better than nothing." The Slytherin began walking off, but stopped after only a few steps, his smile a little bigger. "Cassie's visiting her parents in London," said Abraxas quickly. "If you want, we could go to Hogsmeade together… as friends, of course."

Ginny opened her mouth to refuse. She had been saying some pretty stupid things so far in their little visit, and after volunteering to be his friend again, she really didn't trust her nasty little tongue to refrain from blurting out more helpful suggestions.

Before she could speak, however, someone else beat her to the chase.

"That would not be a good idea," Raul Lestrange said cryptically. He stepped out from a side-corridor, his cruel smirk sending shivers down Ginny's spine. "I do not think that Riddle would approve."

Abraxas's face darkened, and Orion, who was already halfway down the hall, turned and stopped, no doubt to provide backup if his friend needed it.

"Riddle can shove his approval-"

"Abraxas," said Ginny. She forced herself to smile weakly. "Please don't talk about my… my boyfriend that way. Lestrange is right. Riddle wouldn't be happy."

"Riddle," scoffed Abraxas, as if the notion that _he _would keep Ginny from going to Hogsmeade with him was ridiculous. "Right. _My apologies_. I'm sorry I asked."

Then he turned and stalked off quickly. Orion grinned charmingly at Ginny, then went off after Abraxas.

When they were gone, Ginny sighed loudly and began to resume her walk to breakfast, before she realized what Lestrange's presence meant. Her sigh died in her throat.

"What's going on? Did something happen," asked Ginny, sure that Lestrange was going to smile cryptically and tell her that a poor Muggleborn had just been found dead somewhere in the school, and that Hogwarts was going to be closed, and-

"Calm down, Hufflepuff," said Lestrange. Patting her head condescendingly, he said, "Nothing happened, I just-"

"Quit petting me before I curse your arm off," Ginny interrupted.

The Slytherin quickly withdrew his meaty hand, but, with a smirk, said, "You're rather fiery, aren't you? Never noticed it before, but it's rather… appealing."

Ginny stomped on his foot and angrily said, "Keep talking, and it's not going to be your arm that I'm cursing off. Now tell me what Riddle said before I go and ask him myself."

The Head Girl's words evidently hit home; there was no doubt that Riddle would be angry if Lestrange couldn't manage to give Ginny a few short sentences without messing up.

"Oh, no, no, no," chuckled Lestrange. "I'm not here to give you a message. The Dark Lord went to check on whatever it is he checks on. I was just hungry."

_Wait a second… _

Ginny froze, too surprised to even yell at Lestrange for being an idiot.

Riddle had headed off to the Chamber of Secrets to speak with his snake friend again… his disobedient snake friend that could kill him with a single glance- the disobedient snake friend that dislike anything not pureblood.

Now that Riddle's Slytherin blood didn't seem to be helping him very much, would the basilisk go after him? What was the giant snake's view on half-bloods, anyway?

_I really shouldn't care that he's being an idiot. If he dies in the Chamber…_Ginny's thoughts trailed off when she realized that Buddy Basilisk wouldn't actually _kill _Riddle. If he died, she would never find his diary, and it probably wouldn't take him long to find some way to resurrect himself.

Besides, Riddle had his ring on him. If the basilisk ate him, there was no way that Ginny would be willing to search giant snake droppings in order to find it.

Still… Ginny couldn't exactly show up in the Chamber and chew Riddle out. A- there was a basilisk, and B- she wasn't supposed to know where the Chamber was at.

Great. Riddle was probably going to go make the basilisk angry, get himself eaten, and make Ginny fetch his ring out of snake crap- which, obviously, were the only reasons that Ginny felt sweaty and worried and suddenly not hungry enough to want breakfast anymore.

If Riddle got back from the Chamber, Ginny was going to kill him for being so reckless.


	33. Close Encounters

It was stupid, but Ginny went up to the second-floor girl's bathrooms to wait for Riddle. She knew that it wouldn't be suspicious, not when everyone knew that Myrtle had died in there, and she wanted the opportunity to chew him out as soon as possible.

When Ginny reached the lavatories, she was somewhat surprised to see that the sinks were all where they were supposed to be, and that there weren't any giant holes in the ground. Then again, Riddle wasn't an idiot. He probably didn't want anyone accidentally stumbling into the Chamber.

Not knowing what else to do, Ginny took a seat on the cold tile floor and began watching the sinks, waiting for Riddle to emerge.

As she sat and waited, the Head Girl started wondering what in the hell she was doing.

Yes, things would get messy and inconvenient if Riddle died before she could get the location of his diary out of him, and even more inconvenient if his ring happened to be in a place that she couldn't reach. Still, finishing her mission wouldn't be impossible if Riddle was killed- it might even be easier given that Ginny was starting to get sick at the thought of killing the Head Boy.

Yet, Ginny was still panicking at the thought of Riddle putting himself in a life-threatening situation.

Ginny buried her face in her hands and held back a miserable groan.

Riddle was changing, slowly but slowly, and Ginny just _had to_ notice. Maybe he wasn't a saint, not even close, but he was making himself likable enough that Ginny no longer hated him- that she saw almost him as an actual friend… and now he was off risking his life, which only added to his newfound appeal.

_I'm such an idiot_, thought Ginny.

Extremely annoyed at herself, she turned her attention away from _why _she was worrying about Riddle, instead deciding to focus on something- anything- else. Her eyes roamed the bathroom, which looked exactly like it did in the future. The only difference was that it was strangely quiet, probably because there was no-

"I wouldn't be in here if I were you."

-Myrtle.

Ginny sighed as the pig-tailed ghost floated out of her stall.

"What are you going on about?"

"You're not happy to see me, are you?" asked Myrtle. "Neither was Tom. He told me to go back into my toilet, and suggested that I never come out. He was so nice to me when I was still alive, too, but I suppose no one wants to spend their time with a poor, dead-"

"Myrtle," interrupted Ginny. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sigh. I'm just tired. Please, please, please, calm down."

"Calm down," said Myrtle. "They always tell me to just calm down. Well, maybe if I wasn't… if I wasn't… if I wasn't… _dead._"

"I don't care that you're dead," Ginny tried quickly. "And R- Tom doesn't either. He's just... upset. Because he always thought that you were really, really nice, and now you're dead and it really... hurt him, because he always liked you. A lot."

Myrtle stopped speaking and narrowed her eyes at Ginny. Ginny almost felt guilty for lying. _Almost_. The idea of Tom Riddle pining after Moaning Myrtle was ridiculous enough that even trying to picture it made her feel loads better.

"You're lying," she said. "Who are you?"

"Ginny Peverell," said Ginny. "I just moved here. I'm the new Head Girl. And I'm not lying. Tom really did like you, but he's such a sensitive guy, and he's been so upset ever since you died-"

The sound of the sinks moving apart cut her off, and Myrtle retreated into the toilets with an embarrassed shriek. Ginny closed her eyes until she heard human footsteps, telling her that it was Riddle, and not the basilisk, that was emerging from the Chamber.

By the time that her eyes were open, Riddle was standing above her, an eyebrow raised.

"I figured you'd be somewhere around here," said Ginny innocently, "since it's where the girl was killed. The sinks, though? How un-intimidating."

"What are you doing here, Peverell?" asked Riddle. He didn't seem to be mad, but it was also clear that Ginny's presence wasn't welcome.

The Head Girl got to her feet with an irritated noise, Riddle's obvious apathy towards her presence bringing her irritation back full force.

"I am here because you're an idiot," Ginny declared. "I know that you think you're some kind of invincible God, but you aren't! What kind of moron willingly runs off to meet with a giant deadly creature- without telling his only friend_, _and without taking any extra precautions to ensure his safety- for seemingly no reason? I mean, really, you had to_ check on the basilisk_? Somehow I doubt that it would have suddenly started listening to you again overnight! It could have killed you!"

Riddle's eyes narrowed.

"An idiot? Don't talk down to me, Peverell. I may like you more than I should, but that does not give you the right-"

"I can talk to you however I please," snapped Ginny. She knew she was treading on dangerous ground, but she was angry at Riddle for risking his life, angry at him for making her care, and just plain furious that he was yelling at her for giving a crap as to whether he lived or died. "Besides, you're talking to me in the exact same way."

"I'm not talking down to you, I'm getting mad at you. There's a difference." He ran a hand through his thick hair, obviously trying to calm down. "Merlin, Peverell, _what is your problem?_I was trying to do something _good_ this time, but my actions apparently didn't meet your ungodly standards-"

"No, no, no," interrupted Ginny. "This has nothing to do with you not being 'good' enough. I just think that it was unnecessary for you to talk to the basilisk by yourself, because, well… it could have…" She took a deep breath and finished, "It could have killed you, Riddle."

The Head Boy had opened his mouth to say something else, probably to jump down Ginny's throat again, but then Ginny's words seemed to work their way into his thick skull, and some of the anger drained out of Riddle's face.

"I can take care of myself, Peverell," he said, his eyes still narrowed.

"Against a basilisk?" asked Ginny. Riddle opened his mouth, but the Head Girl continued, "If I were you, I'd be grateful that I actually _care_. Merlin knows no one else does."

Riddle didn't bother to contradict her, instead choosing to say, "I told you I've taken precautions to prevent my death. You needn't have worried."

"You didn't seem so sure about those precautions when you were talking about them earlier," Ginny replied. "I'm not either. People aren't meant to be immortal- trying to change that comes at a cost, and I'd bet my wand that you'd pay pretty heavily if you kept yourself from dying. Like I said before, you aren't a god, you aren't invincible, and you aren't immortal, as much as I'm sure you'd like to think you are. You aren't any less human than I am, and _nothing _would have stopped that basilisk from tearing you apart if it wanted to."

Riddle took a heated breath, his nostrils flaring like a livid bull's.

"Peverell, it would be in your best interest to shut up before you make me more angry than I already am."

"No," Ginny said, stepping closer to the Head Boy and getting up in his face. Her actions weren't for the mission, had nothing to do with Ginny trying to impress Riddle. Ginny was acting up because Riddle was asking for it. "Not unless you can promise me that you'll quit acting like you're indestructible. _You aren't_, and if something happens to you, and you have to employ whatever 'precautions' you might have, I will refuse to deal with the results of the _thing _that I'm sure will be the result of the dark magic you're using."

Eyes narrowing, Riddle snapped, "You _know _what I'm like. If you can't tolerate that I use dark magic-"

"I _can, _and I _am_," interrupted Ginny. She didn't want him to even _think _about terminating their friendship because of a stupid fight, and she knew that was exactly what Riddle had been about to suggest. "It's when you've used too much dark magic, and when the good that you still have- the part of you that can be decent, the one that finds amusement rather than disgust in some of the things I do- when that part of you is erased, that's when I won't be able to tolerate it anymore."

Riddle laughed darkly and said, "If you're expecting decent, Peverell, then you're already too late."

"Fat chance," said Ginny. Her voice growing softer, she continued, "If I thought you were that bad, I wouldn't have come up here to make sure you were okay."

The two Heads fell silent and looked at each other for a long time, and it appeared that Riddle was going to let it go, to calm down and forget about their fight, when the look on his face turned to one of disbelief.

This time, Ginny didn't need to be a Parseltongue to hear why- the hole in the bathroom floor, the one that Riddle hadn't bothered to close, was suddenly rustling with movement, and Ginny stared at it in shock, unable to tear away her gaze, until she felt Riddle yank her behind him, pushing Ginny against the wall. His back blocked her view, but Ginny could still _feel _the snake in the room.

"Riddle, don't look at it, it-"

"I know," snapped Riddle. "My eyes are closed. Now shut up."

Ginny listened to him, even though it killed her to do so. She hated being the weak little girl, the one who hid behind the powerful guy when things got tough, but circumstances kept her from doing anything else.

Riddle started making noises, then, a series of terrifying spitting and hissing. Ginny could feel the sounds coming out of deep in his chest, smoothly and calmly- at least in her opinion- despite the way that his heartbeat had begun to quicken. It was the first indication that Ginny had of Riddle ever feeling something akin to fear, and it made her shaking hands and thudding heart seem a lot less shameful.

Riddle paused for a moment, probably to hear the basilisk speak, and then replied with his own graceful hissing.

Ginny swallowed. She'd always thought that Harry's ability to speak to snakes was disturbingly seductive, and inappropriately noticed that her opinion applied to Riddle as well.

There was another long silence, and then Ginny, unable to take it any longer, asked, "What's going on?"

In response, Ginny found herself shoved farther back against the wall, so that her nose was jammed into the Dark Lord's back. She took that as a sign to be quiet.

Soon, the Head Boy began hissing again. Eventually, there was the sound of slithering. Riddle slowly stepped away from Ginny, and within moments the sinks creaked back in place, telling her that the snake was gone. Ginny peeled her eyes open.

Standing a few paces in front of her was Riddle, and when he turned to look at Ginny, his face was even paler than usual.

"What?" asked Ginny. "What's wrong? What did it say?"

"I… it's mind isn't like ours," Riddle said. "It didn't _say _anything."

"Then what happened?" asked Ginny.

"This time," Riddle said, "it wanted to kill _me_. Or, should I say, it wanted to kill me _initially_. I stalled for a short time, and it eventually retreated."

Ginny's eyes widened.

"You mean it went away?"

"Yes," said Riddle, his impatience not quite so venomous. He was still shaken. "It could have easily killed me before, when I was alone with it, but…" He shook his head, then looked straight at Ginny. "I don't understand."

Ginny could see how those words absolutely killed him.

"If it helps, neither do I," she joked, trying to lighten the mood. It didn't work. Riddle still looked sick. "Sorry. I… I'm just nervous. Maybe you were right when you said I should stop talking."

"No," said Riddle. He paused, then continued, "You are annoying, but you're also right. Dying now would be inconvenient, even if you'd see it as a worse tragedy than I would. Perhaps I should have been more careful."

"And you shouldn't have gotten mad at me for caring?" tried Ginny.

Riddle narrowed his eyes at the Head Girl.

"I'd rather you didn't care. It makes things unpleasantly difficult."

"Why?" asked Ginny. "Am I making you think too much?"

"You've gotten me to wonder," said Riddle, "about things that I should not be wondering about. I'm sure your influence will burn away at the end of the year, but cursing myself into a coma until June is beginning to sound like a reasonable idea."

Ginny grinned at his words, even though the euphoria that usually came with small victories over Riddle was nowhere to be found. She pushed away the realization and ordered herself to focus on the present; dwelling on Riddle's murder would only make everything more difficult.

"You won't do that, though, will you?" asked Ginny.

"Of course not," said Riddle. Laughing bitingly, he continued, "I don't know how I can go from wanting to kill you one second to feeling… something else, something not dark or violent, towards you the next, but there is something about that instability that makes it too addicting to wish away."

Ginny shivered at his tone. Its genuineness thrilled her.

"Wow," she said, trying to sound like she wasn't half as affected as she was, "I think that's the nicest thing I've heard you say to anyone."

Riddle looked at Ginny for a moment, then shook his head and walked off, not saying anymore on the subject. Ginny was tempted to take off after him, but her gut told her to let the Head Boy go. It looked like he had things to think about, and she didn't want to keep him from his musings.


	34. The Green Eyed Monster

"Ginny, why is Abraxas staring at you?" Allison asked suggestively.

Ginny looked up from her breakfast and grimaced when she saw a pair of bright blue eyes looking at her intently. Abraxas didn't even bother to look away when she caught him. Instead, he smirked.

At the far end of the Slytherin table, Ginny noticed Riddle watching the exchange with interest.

_Oh, bugger. _

"Obviously not for the reason that you're thinking," said Ginny. "I am going out with _Riddle, _and only Riddle. No messed up love triangles going on here."

"Then why-"

Ginny stabbed a sausage with her fork and pretended that it was Allison's tongue.

"We spoke briefly yesterday morning," said Ginny, trying not to snap; nightmares had kept her awake _again, _and she wasn't in the best mood, "and I agreed that we could try to be friends."

Allison looked up from her plate of waffles, blue eyes sparkling, mouth turned up into a smile.

"And what does your unbelievably handsome boyfriend say about this?"

"Riddle?" asked Ginny. She laughed nervously. "See, the thing is, we kind of had a little tussle yesterday, and I haven't really found a good time to tell him, so…"

Ginny trailed off when she saw Allison turn her gaze to the floor. After months of witnessing similar behavior, Ginny had no doubt that Mason was probably standing right behind her; nothing else made Allison react that way.

Turning around, the Head Girl confirmed her suspicions. An urgent-faced Mason was looking at her with worry scrawled across his face.

"Riddle's doing it again," Mason said seriously, disregarding Ginny's grin. "What he did during fifth year-"

It took Ginny approximately two tenths of a second to get what Mason was saying, and, scarily, even less time to jump to Riddle's defense.

"I know for a fact that he isn't doing anything he shouldn't be… well, at least not what you're saying, anyway."

"The spiders-"

"I didn't say it wasn't happening," Ginny interrupted. "I said that he wasn't doing it, and now I'm sure that you have a million questions, so would you like to take this conversation elsewhere?"

"I… suppose," Mason said.

"Good." Ginny turned to Allison, and laughed at her bewildered looking friend. "Remind Erin that there's a prefect's meeting a seven o'clock tonight, whenever she finally drags her butt out of bed," she said. Then, hopping out of her seat, she started off with a cheerful, "See ya."

As soon as they were out of Allison's hearing range, Mason asked, "Now what-"

"He isn't controlling it," said Ginny. "'It', being a basilisk." They passed by Riddle's end of the Slytherin table, and Ginny, keeping her face light and casual, quickly began, "-and I cannot believe what Seawall did to me in Defense yesterday. I swear, the next time I get to duel that arse-headed Gryffindor, I'll-"

"A basilisk?" asked Mason once the Slytherins were safely behind them.

"Uh-huh," said Ginny. "And Riddle used to be able to get it to do whatever he said. Now, he can't."

Mason appeared skeptical.

"What makes you so sure that he's not simply lying about it?"

Ginny immediately thought of Riddle's worried face the first time he had heard the basilisk, and then of yesterday, when he had thrown himself in front of her, leaving her pressed up against him so tightly that she could hear his racing heart- a surefire sign of genuine fear.

"I _know _he's not," said Ginny. "Trust me on this."

The two Hufflepuffs exited the Great Hall, and Mason's eyes landed on Ginny incredulously.

"You don't have proof, do you?"

"Not exactly," said Ginny, "but I don't think that Riddle would-"

"What? Lie?" asked Mason. This was clearly a sore spot for him, and his usually soft voice had turned icy and hard. "He's _killed _before_, _Ginny. Nothing is beyond him."

Bristling, the Head Girl said, "He's also changed. Maybe not as much as you, but I trust him on this. Riddle is _not _releasing the basilisk."

Mason and Ginny had a long stare off, and, after a short time, Mason's face drained of all expression.

"You're not going to kill him."

As soon as the words were out of Mason's mouth, Ginny's stomach tightened painfully. If the thought of the basilisk hurting Riddle made Ginny sick with worry, how would she ever be able to put a wand to his throat and say the killing curse herself?

Ginny closed her eyes, and imagined Riddle trustingly giving her his ring and diary, a smile on his face as he presented his _friend _with such valuable gifts. Then she pictured herself destroying them, and then sneaking into the Head Boy's room in the middle of the night to assassinate him.

It would not be possible.

"No," Ginny said shakily. "I'm not. Riddle sees me as his friend. I can't bring myself to take advantage of that."

"It's not how Riddle sees you," said Mason. "It's how you see him, and right now…"

"I see him as my friend, too," finished Ginny grimly. She couldn't believe it. The fate of the entire bloody world was on her shoulders, and she wasn't even trying to hold it up. Not only that, but if she failed to kill Riddle, she would be stuck in 1944 forever.

His life, or her own?

Ginny shoved the question out of her head.

Mason's features had long since turned into an ugly grimace.

"Ginny, you can't-" He stopped and shook his head. "Don't you think this is _exactly _what he does with his Death Eaters? Tom Riddle does not make friends, and if you think any differently-"

"I do think differently," Ginny cut in stubbornly. "At least now. I realize he's not perfect, and according to the future Dumbledore, he'll never be able to love anyone, or even ever be a really good person, but that doesn't mean that he's always going to be evil, either."

Mason fell silent for a very, very long time, and Ginny almost hoped that he was going to chew her out thoroughly enough to knock some sense into her, but, instead, his shoulders drooped and he ducked his head.

"Okay," said Mason. "It's your mission, and I guess you do know Riddle better than I ever will. Just… be careful." He stopped, then, and hesitantly asked, "And Ginny?"

"Yeah?"

"Remember that Riddle still hates me. Please try not to say anything that'll get me killed."

"I'm not that stupid-" Ginny started, but Mason had already left.

Irritation had settled in Ginny's chest, but she wasn't sure if it was at Mason, or at herself.

…

Ginny was working on an Arithimancy essay when Riddle entered the Head's common room later that evening. He had been sitting by himself in the library the last time Ginny had seen him, and he still looked to be deep in thought as he brushed by Ginny and started towards his staircase without so much as glancing in her direction.

"Hey," Ginny protested. "Don't I even get a 'hello'?"

The Head Boy stopped with one foot on the first stair, and, not even bothering to look at her, said, "_Hello, _Peverell."

Aaaaannd... there was something wrong.

Ginny shut her thick textbook and scrambled to her feet to chase after the retreating Head Boy. He had to have heard her, but stubbornly continued forward until Ginny caught up to him, and, grabbing his elbow, asked, "What's your problem?"

The Head Boy turned and looked down at Ginny with hard eyes. Ginny had to resist the urge to snarl at him. It seemed like she had been getting nothing but glares and ugly looks lately, and she was beginning to get tired of it.

"At the moment, you are."

"I didn't do anything-" Ginny started. Then she thought back to breakfast that morning, where Riddle had given her the exact same look.

"Aw, bugger. You're mad about Abraxas," groaned Ginny. Riddle said nothing, but the expression on his face said that she had guessed right. Taking a deep breath, the Head Girl continued, "Riddle, I know you don't like him, but I really-"

If possible, Riddle's eyes hardened even furthur, and he ripped his arm away from Ginny's grip before beginning to back towards his room. It was like he suddenly couldn't stand to be near her anymore. Ginny tried to keep talking, but her words died in her throat.

"I don't care about your explanations. Please, just shut up and answer this one question," said Riddle scathingly. "Are you going to start going out with him again?"

The Head Girl jerked her head up in surprise. Ginny didn't know what she had expected Riddle to say, but it wasn't that. Ginny studied the Head Boy's tense countenance, wondering why he was so mad, then started with realization.

"Holy Merlin! You think I'm using you to make him jealous!" Riddle's eyes narrowed, and Ginny knew that she'd hit the nail on the head. With a sigh, she took a step closer to the Head Boy- ignoring how he stepped backwards in response- and forced a smile. "I swear, that's not what I'm doing at all. I just felt guilty… I'm giving the guy a break, that's it."

Riddle seemed unimpressed.

"You never answered my question."

Ginny met his eyes. They were clouded with something that she swore was jealousy, but that was probably a misinterpretation on her part. The Head Boy had no reason to be jealous of Abraxas Malfoy.

"No," said Ginny. "I'm not going to start going out with Abraxas again. Ever. Right now, just being friends with him, is pretty much out of pity." Deflating a little, Ginny continued, "I guess, if you want, we can end our 'relationship' now. It's not doing very much good anymore."

Riddle stiffened.

"No," he said immediately, his eyes boring into hers. He was no doubt reading into Ginny's deflated tone more than he should have been. "Malfoy's head is just big enough that he would think our 'breakup' was because of him. You may be tired of seeing him upset, but at least give me the joy of watching him suffer a little longer."

"Er…" said Ginny. She didn't like this, but something in her gut told her that arguing with the Head Boy on this point wasn't a good idea. There was something really off if Riddle wasn't jumping at the chance to get rid of her.

"Alright," Ginny said. "If… if you say so. But, um… are we done fighting for a while? We've hardly been acting like friends lately, and I know that the whole basilisk thing kind of has you on edge, but, well… I'd prefer if you'd stop biting my head off every other minute."

Riddle looked momentarily surprised at her words, his face betraying the barest hint of the emotion as he took his seat.

"Yes," he said after a short pause. "I would say that we are done fighting."

"For now," Ginny added.

"Of course," said Riddle. "Just for now."

…

The first prefects started arriving in the common room over the course of the next hour. Ginny was thankful that Mason wasn't the first to show up, since she was still rather annoyed with him from that morning. When he did arrive, he took a seat as far away from her as possible and adamently refused to look in her direction.

"What did you do to McCreery?" Riddle asked, raising an inquisitive brow. He appeared to be more curious than concerned.

Ginny looked at Mason out of the corner of her eye.

"Mason doesn't appreciate my choice of friends," she commented lowly, so that no one else could hear. "Of course, he's technically right about you. The only problem is that he's looking at things like they're black and white."

Riddle trained his eyes on Mason, but said nothing.

A few more minutes passed as the rest of the prefects filed in. When everyone was present, Ginny cleared her throat and announced, "I now convene this meeting, December 9th, 1944. Our primary order of business is to finalize everything for the ball. We know who's bringing decorations, right?"

The prefects nodded.

"And pretty much everyone is helping set up?"

"If it's not too much to ask," Grace Martian said. "We have a lot of things to do, and it would be easier with more people."

"That's fine. Um, I'll have Dippet announce when and where we're supposed to meet, but everyone's expected to come. Now, let's see… we've got food, too, right?"

"Grace and I could make up a menu and give it to the house elves," volunteered Erin.

"You'll have to get it approved by Dippet first," Riddle reminded her coolly.

"And probably the other prefects," added Ginny. "Just ask around a little to make sure you've got everyone's input. You can still be in charge of it, though."

Erin nodded, and Ginny continued, "Good. Um. I think we'll just need someone for music, and that should be it. Any ideas?"

"Do we have any money?" asked Charlus Potter.

"Um. Riddle, do we have any money?" Ginny asked with a sheepish smile. The Head Boy pretended to be exasperated… or at least Ginny thought that he was just pretending.

"Yes, Peverell," he sighed. "We have money." His eyes shifted to Charlus, and he continued, "Hire whomever you like as long as the band is appropriate. Is there anything else?"

No one said anything, and Riddle concluded, "Then you are dismissed."

Abraxas waved at Ginny on his way out, and the Head Boy visibly stiffened in his chair.

Ginny shot him a strange look, but didn't say anything as she jogged up to her room to grab her Transfiguration book.


	35. Mint Tea and Something Else

Ginny screeched to a halt when she walked into the potions classroom several days later, her eyes widening into saucers as the most wonderful thing she had ever smelt hit her nostrils.

Riddle, who had been escorting her to class, bumped into her back, and Ginny clumsily stumbled forward. The Head Boy caught her before she could fall on her face, but he looked exasperated when she finally got her balance.

"Sorry," Ginny said. "It's just… do you smell that?"

"What?" Riddle asked. Ginny opened her mouth to tell him that it smelt like the Burrow- fresh grass, Molly Weasley's delicious ginger snaps, mint tea (that one she didn't understand), and… something she couldn't quite identify- but then Riddle seemed to smell it, too, and the irritation drained from his face. "It's Amortentia," he said, his voice not quite so biting. He put a hand on her back and guided her past Slughorn's desk, where a silvery potion was bubbling cheerfully.

"Oh," said Ginny. She swallowed, trying to bite back the memories that came with thinking of home, memories that she had done everything in her power to hold back over the past few months. "I guess Slughorn is probably giving us a 'fun' assignment since this is our last class before the holidays, huh?"

"Peverell… are you okay?" Riddle asked hesitantly.

Ginny blinked hard, then let out a low curse when she realized that she had tears in her eyes.

"Yeah," she said, focusing on setting her books on her table, then keeping her eyes on her things as she needlessly put them in perfect order, "I'm fine. It's just, well… I haven't thought of my family for a while, and…" she trailed off, not trusting herself to continue in a steady voice.

Riddle sat down heavily beside her, but said nothing, and Ginny, hating the awkward silence, swallowed and shakily added, "We lived in the country… lots of grass and plants, and my mother, she was an amazing cook, and that's what I can smell the most, her ginger snaps. They were my favorite."

"Your family meant a lot to you," said Riddle. It was a statement, not a question.

"Yeah," coughed Ginny. "They did, but… can we not talk about that now? I don't think I can handle it. Um… what do you smell?"

The Head Boy fell silent. Ginny started with the realization that Riddle, being who he was, might not have smelled anything, but before she could apologize and change the subject, he shrugged and said, "Ink and parchment."

Ginny took one look at his face and knew he was lying.

"Riddle-" she started, but Slughorn came into the room at that moment, smiling and cheerful and happy. It looked like he was more excited to get out of school than most of the students were.

"Six days until Christmas, and it's such a beautiful morning," he bellowed joyfully. "I'm sure that you've all already smelled my Amortentia, and yes, you will be brewing your own today. Before we get around to that, however, I have an announcement to make. There is a Slug Club Christmas party-" Ginny groaned, "-at six o'clock Christmas Eve Night. You know if you're invited, and don't forget to bring a date." Clearing his throat, he continued, "Now, about this potion…"

Ginny tuned Slughorn out as he went through Amortentia's finer details, things that Ginny either already knew or didn't care about.

"I can go with you to this party thing, right?" Ginny asked Riddle. "Not like I wouldn't _love _to go with Mason, but he's kind of mad at me, Abraxas is obviously a no no, and you _are _my boyfriend, so-"

"Who else would I so much as consider going with?" Riddle cut in.

"I don't know," said Ginny, even though she kind of did. "I bet that any girl in the school would go if you asked them… well, except for Cassiopeia, but she really isn't a girl anyway- more like some kind of evil demon- so..."

"You do realize that a girl's willingness has nothing to do with my opinion of her?"

"Huh. Point taken. For curiosity's sake, though, who'd you go with last year? What if she wanted to go with you again?"

"This conversation is irrelevant," Riddle said exasperatedly. "We're _dating_. Why wouldn't I take you?"

"I don't know," shrugged Ginny. "Because you're Tom Riddle and I'm not sure whether or not I can really bank on you."

With a small chuckle, Riddle shook his head and said, "You still don't get it, do you?"

"Huh?" Ginny asked. She had absolutely no idea what he was talking about.

Riddle shifted so that he was closer to Ginny, and, speaking low so that no one else could hear, he said, "I would not say this if I did not mean it, but you, if no one else, should be able to 'bank' on me."

"Riddle, I really don't think-", started Ginny.

"When we met that basilisk," Riddle interrupted, his voice sharp and intense and strangely chilling, "which one of us moved to _protect _the other?"

Ginny closed her mouth and stared at Riddle. She had never thought about it before, but Riddle, the Slytherin, hadn't thrust her in front of him like a human shield, or tried exchanging Ginny's life for his. Instead, as soon as Riddle had heard the basilisk coming, he had stepped in front of her.

In a way, Riddle had put Ginny's safety before his own, something that Slytherins never, ever did. Especially not Slytherins like Tom Riddle.

For the first time, Ginny fully appreciated how strongly she was impacting the Heir of Slytherin.

To her, Riddle was _one _of her relatively many friends; maybe now that she was fighting with Mason, he was one of her top _three _in the time period, not even taking into consideration how many friends she had in the future.

For Riddle, though, things were different. Ginny was his only friend, his best friend, maybe the only person that he had ever, _really _cared about. Pretty much all of Riddle's good, relatively human feelings were directed towards her.

Riddle obviously knew this, and judging by the disgust in his voice, he didn't like it one bit.

"I guess… I guess I should trust you to do something as small as go to a party with me," said Ginny. "I'm sorry. It's just, seeing you like this… it's… not normal."

Slughorn's resonant voice gave the class permission to start on their potions, but Riddle, his eyes still straight on Ginny, didn't move.

"You're right," he said finally. "It's not normal." Riddle paused for a moment, before finally tearing his gaze away from Ginny and muttering, "What are you doing to me?"

Ginny opened her mouth to answer, to try to say something smart and clever, but her words died in her throat as she processed his words.

That did not sound like Riddle at all... it almost sounded like something that Abraxas would have said to her with a cocky smile and shining eyes, not something that the future Lord Voldemort would mumble with accusation in his tone. It almost sounded like he thought that Ginny was poisoning him. It sounded... it sounded like Ginny had been affecting him more than she ever could have expected.

Riddle had to be faking this... he had to be lying, to be pulling Ginny's leg... The Head Girl watched as Riddle walked away from her, leaving to go to the storage closet. _Was _he lying? Did he want something from Ginny? Or was he actually starting to like her that much? Was Riddle putting more into this friendship than she was?

Gnny didn't know for sure, but she had a pretty good idea, and the answer to her question almost overwhelmed her with guilt.

The Heir of Slytherin was breaking all of his rules for her, someone who had been _acting _most of the time that they had known each other.

Riddle came back from the closet, loaded down with ingredients, his distant mask back in place.

"Would you mind measuring the frogs' eyes?" he asked coolly. "We are already slightly behind."

"Don't worry," Ginny laughed, reaching for the vial. "I'm sure you'll catch us up."

Riddle only shrugged, and they finished the class period in relatively comfortable silence. When the bell finally rang, most of the students burst out of their seats and ran for the door, already yelling and talking about Christmas break, but Ginny hovered back and waited for the Head Boy.

He actually kind of deserved it.

…

Ginny was ready to pound her head against the wall.

She needed to get gifts, a dress for the ball, and several other things from Hogsmeade, but Riddle wasn't letting her out of the common room.

The basilisk, which had been relatively silent for the past couple of weeks, was acting up again, and Riddle, thankfully not overlooking Ginny's threats to dye his hair purple if he went looking for it, did not know why.

"Riddle," Ginny said, her voice laced with frustration. "I've already got Dippet to let me go to Hogsmeade for the day. Why can't you just escort me out of the castle, make sure it doesn't come near us, and, I don't know… trust me not to die? Everyone else is walking around, and they're all fine."

"For now," muttered Riddle. He wasn't even looking at Ginny; his eyes were scanning an old brown book with a cracked binding, and Ginny knew that he was still trying to figure out what was going on with the basilisk. "Whatever is controlling that basilisk hasn't asked it to kill anyone yet, but I cannot be sure of how long it will be before that changes."

"Well," shrugged Ginny, "Even then, the basilisk only goes after Muggleborns, right? I don't have any Muggle blood, so-"

"That does not make you invincible," Riddle interrupted sharply. "It was going after Malfoy, and, believe me, he has no problem with letting _everyone _know that his blood is quite as pure as yours. I… may not be able to claim that, but the basilisk did not seem to take into consideration my Slytherin heritage either."

"Er… I don't know, then. Maybe it's going after Slytherins? You know, the people it should like best, in which case I'd be safe. Just, _please _let me go! You don't want me to go to the ball in my school robes, do you?"

Ginny knew that she was being immature, and probably not impressing Riddle in the least, but she was tired, spending her first Christmas without her family was making her crabby, and the Head Boy was was being just plain _confusing_. He was being too nice, too un-Riddle -like. Ginny would have felt a lot better if he had snapped, called her a moron, and tried to choke her like he had before. The Head Boy's improved attitude, rather than encouraging her, scared the hell out of her.

"Your dress robes were fine at Slughorn's last party. You would look perfectly acceptable in those," replied Riddle.

"Riddle, my… _grandfather _bought those for me. No offense, but they're kind of terrible. Besides, it's not _just _the dress. Remember, we have to visit Addison sometime during break, and I need to get her lots of amazing presents, too."

He did not even blink.

"Don't spend too much money on her," warned Riddle. "Half of what you get her will be stolen or broken before the end of January."

"Says the perpetual pessimist," said Ginny. Shrugging, she said, "I wasn't planning on it, anyway. Money doesn't buy very good gifts, you know. I might get her some warm mittens or something, just because I doubt she has any, but I was thinking it'd be cooler to bake her lots of homemade treats, and maybe I could take the time to knit her a jumper.

"I'd need to buy some supplies, but… my mum always used to do that, to knit jumpers for _everyone _in my family. They were so warm and soft, and I think Addie would really like one, if I could manage to make one anything like mum… Alright, now I'm starting to talk about things you don't care about… Do I have permission to go to Hogsmeade yet?"

"Could I escort you?" Riddle asked. He had finally looked up from his book, and was staring at her intently; it seemed like he had been doing that a lot lightly, as if he was continually searching for something in her face or eyes, something that Ginny did not know whether or not he was finding.

Trying not to feel self-conscious, Ginny raised a brow.

"Sure. If you want to wait two hours in a dress shop while I figure out what to buy."

The Head Boy grimaced, and Ginny smiled. She really wouldn't have minded him coming along, but she wanted to at least look for a present for him, and she wanted it to be a surprise.

"And you couldn't do this tomorrow?"

"I don't want to wait any longer," said Ginny honestly. "Honestly, I should have been done with all this stuff weeks ago, but I kind of forgot, and now I'm really running late, and I still need a couple days to knit the jumper, and wrap all the gifts, so…"

After a short hesitation, Riddle sighed.

"Do not go out the front entrance. You seem to have figured out a number of secret passageways in this school; are you aware of the one behind the one-eyed witch statue?"

"Yup," said Ginny. "Er, Mason showed me. You want me to take that one?"

"It's further from the second-floor lavatories, and nearer to our common room. It would be much safer."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Ginny said, running over to Riddle and giving him a tight hug before jumping back and rushing up to her room, running a little faster at the Head Boy's irritated, "What did I tell you about hugging me?"

Ginny laughed as she got ready to go to Hogsmeade.

Vaguely, in the back of her head, she wondered why the smell of Riddle's cologne was so familiar.


	36. You Can't Be Serious

Ginny was about three steps into the dark passageway that led from Hogwarts to Hogsmeade when she ran straight into what felt like a warm, relatively solid wall.

Because Riddle's earlier speech had turned her absolutely paranoid, Ginny's first thought was that it was the basilisk. Then she realized that that was stupid, opened her eyes, and found herself looking into twin pools of electric blue.

Her face twisted into a grimace.

"What the hell-" Abraxas began, but then he must have recognized Ginny in the dim light, because the annoyance on his face- probably put there incase he ran into a common 'Mudblood' or something of that sort- evaporated into a relatively cautious smile. "Ginny," he said, his voice colored with surprise. "How do you know about this…"

"Mason showed it to me," Ginny lied, figuring that Riddle bought the story, and Abraxas wasn't half as mistrusting as the Heir of Slytherin. Then, before he could think on it anymore, she said, "Now, I'm sorry, but I've got things to do, and I really need to go, so-"

"Last minute shopping?" Abraxas interrupted.

"Er, yeah. Why?"

"I wouldn't mind coming with you. You did say that we were supposed to be friends, and, so far, I haven't seen anything that would suggest you weren't lying. You owe me this, Ginny, if nothing else."

Ginny bit her lip. He was right. She _had _promised to give him a shot at friendship, and then taken to avoiding him completely, mainly because she was scared that Riddle would be mad at her for spending time with him. Abraxas had been acting decently, though, and unless she wanted to start playing the part of a bitchy ex-girlfriend, there were no good excuses that Ginny could use to keep him from going with her.

"Well," Ginny said. "…I don't supposed that telling you Riddle won't be thrilled about this will discourage you any."

Abraxas grinned so brightly that his white teeth glowed in the dim passage.

"Given that I like to make that bastard-"

"_Abraxas-" _

He ignored her.

"-squirm, it would actually make me want to go with you even more. Besides, you're a Hufflepuff- he cannot be dense enough to think that you'd cheat on him. Riddle doesn't have anything to worry about."

"I don't think he's worried about that," said Ginny, reluctantly beginning to move forward again. "It's more like he just doesn't like you."

Abraxas laughed.

"Keep telling yourself that, Gin, but there's a difference between dislike and jealousy, and I know jealous when I see it. It's the exact same thing that turned me into an arse after you dumped me, except it's not as easy to notice on Riddle, given that he's practically made of stone."

Ginny opened her mouth to laugh Abraxas off, but closed it just as quickly.

Her first reaction was that, even if Abraxas had noticed Riddle getting a little green-eyed, it would have been nothing more than an extra bit of acting for their fake relationship. Then Ginny realized that there was a problem with that theory; Riddle would _never _willingly display such a weakness, not when he had no reason to. No one was doubting their relationship- Riddle didn't need to go out of his way to convince anyone.

With a hollow feeling in her gut, Ginny recalled the last prefect meeting, where she'd been so sure that a shadow of jealousy had danced in Riddle's eyes. Then, she had written it off as something else, but… what if her first instincts had been right?

"That's impossible," she breathed, both to Abraxas and to herself, as a growing realization started picking at the edges of her brain.

Riddle… jealous…?

_Nu-uh. I'm going crazy, and Abraxas is already poisoning my brain, _Ginny thought decisively. With a firm resolve, she pushed thoughts of a jealous Tom Riddle out of her head just as she and Abraxas arrived at their destination.

Like a perfect gentleman, Abraxas went out of his way to open the passage, then let Ginny through before following behind. It was kind of strange, being around him and spending time with him again, but Ginny grudgingly admitted that it wasn't awkward at all. Abraxas evidently had a short memory, and Ginny had never had trouble spending time with the charismatic Slytherin, so everything fell back into place with a strange ease.

The only difference was that Ginny no longer felt any desire to hold his hand, or make him smile… his presence had quit giving her butterflies, and even though she supposed that was to be expected given their breakup, she was still surprised.

Shouldn't she have still have felt _something _for him?

Ginny shook the question off.

"Here's an idea," said Abraxas as he hopped into Honeydukes's cellar and shut the door behind him. "Let's quit talking about Riddle. He's an arse, I frankly find it awkward, and we've got other things to do. You need presents, you said?"

"Yeah." Smiling sheepishly, Ginny added, "And a dress, but you don't have to help with that if you don't want to."

"Let's see… I get to see a beautiful girl make herself look even more beautiful? Oh, the _horror_."

Ginny slapped his arm, gritting her teeth in an attempt to hold back a traitorous blush. This was one of those moments where she absolutely _hated _having pale skin.

"First, anymore awkward comments, and I'll run back to the castle, screaming at Riddle that you're hitting on me. Second, you've got a Greek goddess for a fiancée. She'd be plenty happy to pose for you if you'd ask, and I'm sure I wouldn't compare at all."

"I'm only stating the facts," Abraxas said innocently. "And don't compare yourself to Cassie," he added. "She's a Black, and they've got genes that make _me _jealous. The thing is, though, what they've got in looks, they lack in character."

Ginny shook her head, but she was fighting a smile.

Maybe being friends wouldn't be so bad after all.

…

Two hours later, Ginny was regretting that thought.

Abraxas had been fine when they were buying presents- he hadn't even complained when Ginny handed him a bag of chocolate frogs and told him that it was his Christmas present-, but he was an absolute menace to pick out a dress with.

If Abraxas wasn't such a good kisser, Ginny would have been ninety percent certain that he was a complete pouf.

She had planned on grabbing a decent dress and leaving it at that, especially given that Riddle would undoubtedly not give a crap, but after the blond had lazily informed her for the fifth time that she had no idea what she was doing, Ginny abandoned all hope of an easy escape.

"You're hair is _red_, in case you have not noticed," Abraxas said irritably. Ginny was wearing a rosy pink dress that she had thought looked really pretty on her, but was apparently some kind of fashion monstrosity. "Haven't you learned by now which colors _not _to wear?"

"If I cared," Ginny seethed, "I would have brought Allison along to help me. You're supposed to sit in a corner and not give a crap."

"Then neither of us would, and you'd wind up looking terrible," Abraxas said. "I grew up shopping with my mother, and I know what I'm doing. Find something green, gold, or maybe light blue, with a longer skirt, a relatively tight bodice-" Ginny snorted at that specification, "-and a high neckline. I want you to look nice when you dance with me- which you will-, but there's no way that I'm going to help Riddle see more than he-"

"Sorry, Dad, but as much as I value your opinion-" started Ginny, not wanting to think about Lord Voldemort and wandering eyes.

"Just do it," Abraxas interrupted tiredly.

Ginny, who wasn't a big shopping fan in the first place, obeyed the Slytherin with a bitter glare.

Five minutes later, she was holding a beautiful, midnight blue masterpiece with a glittering skirt, a modest neckline to make up for a rather low back, and an affordable price tag. Ginny tried it on, but, uncomfortable with the idea of Abraxas analyzing her in it a dress that she _knew _was dead on, took it off again before she left the changing rooms.

At his raised brow, Ginny help up the dress. The Slytherin made a face.

"I said _light _blue... the dark color isn't great with your hair-" Ginny opened her mouth to tell him to shove it, "but the rest of the dress more than makes up for it." He smirked. "It's good enough. "

Ginny narrowed her eyes and let out an annoyed huff, but went to pay. She supposed that a 'good enough' from Abraxas was probably as good as a lot of squealing and laughing from Allison. At least she hoped so, because, for whatever reason, she was dying to make an impression on Riddle.

It was strange, but Ginny wanted the Head Boy's jaw to drop when he saw her- she wanted Riddle to think that she was beautiful.

…

"Just so you don't get mad at me," Ginny announced when she staggered into the Head's common room, weighed down with bags, a short while later, "Abraxas found me- coincidentally- and helped me pick out some presents."

Riddle's head jerked up sharply- _jealously?- _and Ginny hastily continued, "And no, I did not kiss him, or fawn over him, or even look at him admiringly. I didn't even have plans to meet him. Do you have any complaints?"

Riddle, who didn't seem to have left the spot he had been sitting in that morning, grit his teeth, and, rather tightly, replied, "No, I suppose not."

Then the Head Boy moved to get up, and Ginny, knowing him well enough to recognize the look on his face, stepped in front of him.

"Oh, and in case you're wondering, I discouraged _you_ from coming with because I wanted to get you a present without you knowing about it, and all I got Abraxas was a bag of cheap chocolate, which doesn't constitute much secrecy, so don't you go getting butt-hurt about that, either, because I did _not _pick him over you-"

"A present?" Riddle interrupted. The anger was entirely gone from his face, replaced by a numb kind of shock. Ginny felt herself relaxing, and she almost wanted to smile.

Never, in the four months she had been in 1944, had she seen Tom Riddle look so unexpectedly surprised. Ginny figured that she could have stripped down to her underthings and waltzed with an imaginary vampire before Riddle's expression even got close to the one that he had on his face at that moment.

It was perfect and priceless and the kind of thing that Ginny wished she could have a picture of to keep and cherish forever.

"Obviously," Ginny said, even though it probably wasn't that obvious to Riddle. There was no doubt in Ginny's mind that her present was going to be the first he had ever gotten, and she only hoped that he wouldn't think it was stupid. "You're my boyfriend, remember?"

"I've never… Peverell, this is…"

"Holy Merlin, you're speechless," Ginny laughed. With a bright grin, she flicked her wand and carelessly sent her bags up to her room, then plopped down on a loveseat across from Riddle. "I kind of like it. It makes you… endearing."

Riddle's mouth slammed shut just as Ginny realized what she had said, and the Hufflepuff quickly moved to take back her statement when she recognized the look on his face.

It wasn't disgust, annoyance, anger… it was hope, and that was when the realization hit Ginny over the head like a hammer.

Abraxas had been right. Riddle had, most likely, been jealous. Just like his words the other day, his strangely desperate, accusing, "What are you doing to me?", meant more than she had thought… even now, when Ginny had called him endearing, Riddle's eyes had flashed with _too much _awareness.

"Holy bloody hell," Ginny muttered under her breath. Suddenly, she felt totally and completely lost. She had to have been wrong… it wasn't right, not at all, that Riddle would see _her_, of all people, like _that_, but something in her gut told her that she wasn't imagining things, and that, no matter how superficial it was, the Heir of Slytherin didn't _just _want to be her friend anymore.

"Peverell?" asked Riddle.

He was concerned.

Lord Voldemort should not have been concerned.

"I… I think I'm going to start knitting Addie's sweater," Ginny said quickly. Her thoughts were flying, and she was very, very confused, and even now she was wondering how in the world this had ever, in a million years, managed to happen.

Riddle said something, but Ginny didn't hear it. Numbly, she left her seat and headed to her room, still unable to process her impossible theory.

_I'm almost positive that Tom Riddle has a thing for me, _the Head Girl thought with wide eyes. _Why am I not completely disgusted? _

Ginny didn't know, and she frankly didn't care. All that she knew was that she had misinterpreted something, or that he was simply acting too well, or maybe that her eyes needed to get checked, because there was no way that she could be right.

Objectively, a traitorous part of Ginny's brain began entertaining very disturbing ideas.

Ginny ripped a spool of thick yarn out a bag and began clumsily stabbing at it with enchanted knitting needles.

Could nothing _ever _just be simple?

**A/N- **

**Alright, if anyone's rereading this, I finally got it edited. If not, just disregard that, assume that I would love and appreciate any reviews, and start waiting for the next chapter. **

**Just a hint, but since this was such a filler, and because next chapter is going to be relatively interesting, I just **_**might **_**update this weekend. Or at least I'll try to, just because I have 500 reviews now, I'm super happy, and you guys have been really awesome. **

**~bballgirl32~ **


	37. The Greater Good

Ginny couldn't sleep that night. She stayed up past midnight knitting Addie's sweater, and when she was finished with that, she laid down and tried to sleep. Immediately, a dozrn images that she didn't want to be faced with appeared behind her eyelids.

Mason, shaking his head in disproval, distrust sprawled out across his face. Harry, leaning forward to kiss her for the first time, after that Quidditch match, and then his face turning into Riddle's right before his lips touched hers. The words, "What are you doing to me?" breathed against her skin. His eyes turning red, and Riddle melting into a laughing Lord Voldemort, still only inches from her face, whispering, "You can trust me, Ginevra. You're my best friend. Everything will be fine. Just keep writing. Keep writing."

Ginny tore her eyes open and sat up.

If she saw things like that when she was awake, what kind of nightmares would haunt her sleep?

Without thinking about it, the Head Girl tossed an old cloak on over her silk pajamas and pulled on a pair of furry boots, then grabbed her wand and slipped out of her room.

Riddle wasn't in the common room anymore, which she was thankful for. Then again, it shouldn't have been surprising. It was late, even for Tom Riddle.

Moving as quietly as possible, Ginny slipped down her staircase, then out of the portrait. She was restless, and even though she wasn't really hungry, her feet still led her down a staircase, through several long corridors, past the Hufflepuff common room, and straight to the kitchen.

Her heart still fluttering a little too quickly, Ginny reached up and tickled the pear, then carelessly jumped through the opening, expecting the room to be empty.

Ginny stopped mid-stride when she saw Mason and Mulciber huddled together over a table.

Both of the boys froze when they saw her- Mason's face turning to stone, and Mulciber's eyes widening in surprise. They have obviously been talking about something that no one was supposed to overhear, and Ginny imagined that she was pretty low on their 'people to trust' list.

"I was just looking for something to eat," explained Ginny.

She vaguely wondered when Mulciber and Mason had gotten so friendly, why it looked like Mason was closer to him than her, then guiltily realized that she had been paying so much attention to Riddle lately that she'd more or less forgotten about everyone else.

No wonder Riddle was starting to fancy her- he probably figured that Ginny worshiped him, with how clingy she was becoming.

There was a long silence where neither Mason or Mulciber replied, and then finally Mason waved his warm, silently saying, _Then eat. _

Ginny glared at him. He could speak perfectly well- he actually talked quite normally to people that he liked- and his silence was just another sign that he didn't fully trust her anymore.

"Please say _something,_" Ginny said unwillingly. Last time they'd stopped speaking to each other, Ginny had gone out of her way to fix things. It was Mason's turn to plead and beg this time, but he showed no signs of even wanting things between them to be okay again.

Then again, he was Grindelwald's bloody nephew. Ginny had a feeling that, even though the Hat had seen something in Mason's character that convinced it to put him in Hufflepuff, Mason wasn't going to be friendly or forgiving, not when he was probably under the impression that Ginny had betrayed him.

Trust was everything. Mason was so much like Riddle in that way that it was ridiculous.

"I don't know what you want me to say," Mason said. He must have told Mulciber a good deal of what was going on, because he didn't hesitate before continuing, "You've made your choice, and I'm not going to interfere."

Ginny narrowed her eyes.

"You're worse than Abraxas," she said. "He's not making me choose him over Riddle, but with you, it's one or the other, and that's just stupid. I don't know anything about you that Riddle doesn't, and if you're worried that I'll tell him about Mulciber's cold feet, just threaten _me_. Tell Riddle what I'm here for, and he'll off me before I can even open my mouth."

Mason said nothing for a few moments, but his eyes locked with Ginny's, brimming with too many emotions to read. Mulciber was silent, but his eyes were burning into Ginny's face, curious, but not knowing what to say. He wasn't as angry at Ginny as Mason was- he hadn't been her friend, just an acquaintance, someone who respected her, but little else.

"I'm not worried about you hurting us. You wouldn't do that," Mason finally said.

"Then why are you acting like this?" asked Ginny.

Mason shot a wary look in Mulciber's direction and vaguely said, "You could do so much, could help so many people, but you're completley ignoring this opportunity. If I had your power…"

"You'd what?" interrupted Ginny sharply. "You'd convince Riddle that friendship is good, and then turn on him? Mason, the reason I don't think I can do what I'm supposed to… it's not because I trust Riddle completely or because I think he's a decent person. It's because I'm a bloody Hufflepuff, and even though I hate myself for it, I can't let him be right. Trust, friendship, everything like that… it's all supposed to be good. Am I any better than Riddle if I get him to believe in all those things, and then stab him in the back?"

"You wouldn't be like him," Mason told Ginny. The sharpness was leaving his voice, and Ginny got the impression that he was softening- that he was starting to understand. "What you're fighting for, what you'd hurt him for… it's the right reason."

"So I'd kill him and it'd be okay, but Riddle does the same thing to someone else and pays for it with his life?" Ginny asked, quoting Riddle from a conversation that they'd had a long time ago. "How do you know that when Riddle killed Myrtle, or… anyone else he may have murdered… how do you know that he didn't think it was for the right reasons?"

That quieted Mason for a moment. Mulciber looked confused, and his eyes were shining with questions, his lips opened as if he wanted to speak, but he remained completely silent.

Suddenly, Ginny realized that she didn't trust Mulciber enough to have him listening in on their conversation, that he spent too much time with Riddle for her to be comfortable with. Mason, as if reading Ginny's thoughts, raised his wand and pointed it at the other boy's head.

"Obliviate."

Ginny cringed but didn't complain as Mulciber's eyes went blank for a moment before regaining their focus.

"What in the world-" he started gruffly.

"We're leaving," Mason said, cutting off his friend.

"So you still hate me?" questioned Ginny. "You still think that it's okay for me to act like Riddle at his worst, at the very same time that he's shining at his best?"

Mason shook his head, and his eyes were sad when he said, "I don't hate you, Ginny, and I'm trying to understand, but sometimes things aren't easy, or even right, but they still have to be done."

The words were in Ginny's head, dancing on her tongue, before she could think them away, and by then it was too late. She knew what she was doing before she said them, knew how badly they would burn, but Mason was being infuriating and callous.

With a smirk exactly like Riddle's, Ginny bitingly asked, "For the Greater Good, right?"

Mason froze like he'd been punched, and his hands balled into tight fights. Mulciber was like a statue beside him, and the tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife.

_He's going to curse me, _thought Ginny. _Mason McCreery, who I had once thought was the sweetest boy in the school, is going to curse me_.

He didn't.

To Ginny's surprise, Mason let out a shaking breath, and softly said, "Yeah, Peverell. That's pretty much exactly right."

Then he opened the portrait hole and left, Mulciber trailing behind him.

Guilt hit Ginny hard, but she pushed it back. Mason's words may have been true, but Ginny was fast learning that right and wrong weren't black and white, and she had a gut feeling that, in this particular case, she was the one who was doing the right thing.

For a short time, Ginny stood where she was, waiting for the heat from her confrontation with Mason to fade, and then she released a low breath and took the seat that Mason had just vacated.

A tentative house elf appeared in front of her.

"Can I get anything Mizzus Pevyril?"

"Er, yeah," said Ginny. "Can I have a mint tea?" She ducked her head and blushed at the request, even though it was stupid to think that a house elf would see any significance in it.

The little elf nodded emphatically, and, moments later, returned with the tea.

Ginny inhaled deeply, remembering perfectly how clear the smell had been in her Amortentia sevearl days before, and even though she still thought it looked rather like cat urine, even just inhaling the wonderfully distinctive smell helped her to calm down.

Deep in the back of her mind, Ginny remembered the last time she had drank tea like this, sitting across from Riddle in the dimly lit room. She had said something about his life being meaningless, had told him that he could change that if he would learn what it was like to care about someone.

Riddle had told Ginny that it was impossible, that his life would always be worth nothing. She distinctly remembered the way that he had looked, then- broken and weak and human.

Ginny wondered if Riddle still found his life meaningless. Did whatever strange, fractured relationship they shared make any difference? If it did, what would happen if Ginny kept pretending to ignore Riddle's lingering looks and increasingly obvious jealousy? Would he realize that she was skirting around his 'feelings' and give up on her completely? Would he keep going on like he was now?

Should Ginny say something?

_Yeah, _thought Ginny cynically. _I'll just walk up to Voldemort and ask if he fancies me. That'll turn out well. _

With a sigh, Ginny shook those thoughts away. She valued Riddle's friendship too much to ruin it with awkward questions.

Ginny polished off her tea and resolved to pretend that everything was okay. Then she headed back to the Head's common room.

…

Riddle was just returning from breakfast when Ginny tiredly descended her staircase late the next morning, and he immediately took notice of the bruise-like circles under her eyes.

"I thought I heard you leaving last night," he said. Ginny could tell that he was trying not to sound suspicious. "I don't remember you having patrols."

"I didn't," Ginny yawned. His eyes fell to her bare feet, and Ginny fidgeted uncomfortably. What now? Did Voldemort have a bloody foot-fetish that Dumbledore hadn't mentioned, or was he looking at something else? Quickly, she continued, "I couldn't sleep, so I went down to the kitchens from some tea, if you must know."

Riddle raised his gaze back to her face. His eyes were narrowed into slits.

"Did you even once think about the basilisk during your little trip?" he asked sharply.

"Well, um... no. It didn't kill me, though," Ginny said weakly. She'd totally forgotten about the giant snake, and she actually kind of felt stupid for it.

Wasn't she the one who'd actually dealt with the basilisk before? She should have been terrified that it was going to eat her or something, but there was a stupid invincible feeling in Ginny's gut, a stupid certainty that it wouldn't hurt her.

Maybe Ginny was delusional. She had been the one controlling the basilisk last time. Her brain was probably under the impression that she still had power over the thing.

"Peverell, you're going to get yourself killed," Riddle said coldly, but Ginny could detect worry in his voice.

For the first time, she realized that Harry was the only one of her previous boyfriends who would have cared so much.

_Riddle likes me_, Ginny thought. _He'd be a decent boyfriend. What's so bad about liking him back? _

About a million protests popped into Ginny's head, and she smiled slightly. Right. He was kind of an evil murderer, not to mention that he supposedly couldn't love anybody.

Any relationship with Riddle would crash and burn before it even got started.

"You know," said Ginny, and as she spoke, she realized that her words were true, "I don't think so. You wouldn't let me die."

Riddle narrowed his eyes.

"I can't control if it kills you or not," Riddle said in a voice laced with unconcealed frustration. "I'm not all-powerful." Ginny started to gape at his words, but the Head Boy added, "Don't look at me like that, Peverell. I'm not admitting that I couldn't be, just that I don't want to be. If I wasn't unwilling to do certain... things, I could easily find the power to stop the basilisk, to do _anything..._ but you're holding me back. Right now, it's you that's making me weak."

His voice wasn't accusing. It was accepting. Ginny still felt like she'd done something wrong.

_I'm screwing up Lord Voldemort. _

"I… I'm sorry?" she tried.

"Don't be," Riddle said. His eyes locked intently with hers, and Ginny wanted to melt. He fancied her, she knew it, and she was still speaking with him like everything was normal, was still making eye-contact with him, wasn't running or screaming. It was wrong.

"Don't be," repeated Ginny. "Don't be sorry? Why not?"

With cold eyes, Riddle steelily said, "There are other things that are more important."

"Er…" Ginny said intelligently. It was all that she could think of, she was so shocked.

He _had _to have been talking about some Death Eater stuff, right?

The look in his eyes said he hadn't been.

"Okay then," she finally said. "I'll be more careful."

"It's a basilisk. You shouldn't need me to remind you."

"Yeah," Ginny said. "But it doesn't scare me."

She had no idea how that response was honest. Was she crazy? Even Riddle was eyeing her like he wasn't sure how mentally sound she was.

"Brave and stupid. You might as well be a Gryffindor."

Then he walked off to his room, leaving Ginny staring after him, his words echoing in her head.

"_There are other things that are more important." _

For once, the Hufflepuff wasn't thick enough not to realize why she suddenly felt very, very warm.

**A/N- **

**Okay, I didn't think it was possible, but you have all officially shocked me. I asked to get up to 500 reviews, and I get 526. That's FORTY-ONE total! I seriously almost fainted when I saw that, and I have to thank you all about a million times over. Hopefully this early chapter helps show my gratitude a little bit. **

**Again, not _too much _action, but Slughorn's party is next chapter- which I'm still posting Wednesday- so hopefully that'll make up for it. I really hope you guys keep up your great awesomeness, and I'm looking forward to hearing what you all have to think. **

**~bballgirl32~ **


	38. Gifts From Lord Voldemort

As the next few days ticked away, Ginny's mood began to fluctuate erratically. Even though Riddle was hopelessly confusing her, she still found herself strangely happy almost whenever she was in his presence, and spending time with Abraxas was actually kind of fun, too. Mason, the only person who really could have dampered her spirits, had all but bleeped off Ginny's radar since their last conversation.

If it wouldn't have been for one nagging thought, Ginny would have been perfectly fine.

She had never, in her entire life, spent Christmas away from her family. There had always been Ron or Fred and George if no one else, but, for the most part, her Christmases had been huge, family-filled gatherings with tons of people, lots of food, and so much laughing and talking that you couldn't hear yourself think.

Hogwarts, with most of the students gone and not due to return until the New Year's ball, was pretty much the opposite. Erin and Allison, the only two of Ginny's friends that could be constituted as 'cheerful' were home with their parents, and even though Riddle and Abraxas were great, they were a far cry from Bill or Charlie.

It was Christmas Eve Day, just over an hour before Slughorn's supper, when Ginny found herself dwelling on these thoughts _again. _If it had been fifty years in the future, she would have been sitting around in the kitchen with Charlie, chatting about dragons while their mother baked. Meats pies and cakes and pumpkin pasties would have covered every available surface, with even more goodies still in the oven.

Now she was alone, in a too-big, too-clean common room, and even _Riddle_ had something to do or some place to be, while Ginny sat around and moped. It was rather depressing.

_"At least Charlie, and Ron, and Dad aren't dead yet," _Ginny thought in an attempt to cheer herself up. It helped a little bit, but not as much as she would have liked. They weren't there, with her, and that was what hurt.

The portrait to the common room swung open. Ginny sat up a little straighter when Riddle entered, her eyes widening curiously when she saw a neat little white cardboard box in his hands, tied with a Christmassy red ribbon.

"What's that?" Ginny asked Riddle inquisitively, leaning forward to get a better view of the box. The movement was unnecessary, as Riddle walked easily over to Ginny and held the gift out in front of him.

"I distinctly remember that you mentioned getting me a present. I still think that it was foolish and unnecessary for you to do so, but Slytherins do not like it when they owe others for anything, even small matters, and so I decided to get you something as well."

Ginny stared at Riddle.

"Wait…" she said, her mind muddled with shock. She couldn't even make her brain work well enough to reach out and take the box. "I… it's not Christmas."

"It isn't a real present," said Riddle sharply. There was an implied, _"You know I can't afford one." _"Hopefully it will help to put you in a better mood, if nothing else. I never assumed you to be the despondent type, and it is starting to wear on me."

"Er, sorry," Ginny said. She still didn't reach out to take the box, and Riddle, looking at her like she was an absolute idiot, gently set it in her lap.

"I cannot say for sure, but I assume that this is where you _open it_," Riddle pressed.

"Riddle, you didn't need to get me anything, really."

"But I did," he said. Ginny could tell that the Head Boy was starting to get annoyed, but she didn't want to open the box, not without knowing what to expect.

Lord Voldemort. Christmas present.

They just didn't go together.

Another couple of seconds passed, and Riddle's eyes were narrowing with every moment that Ginny hesitated. Figuring that she didn't want his eyes to get stuck like that, Ginny finally sighed dramatically and forced herself to tug on the ribbon. Then she opened the box, slowly and carefully.

The smell hit her first. Ginger and molasses.

It was familiar enough to make Ginny's stomach ache.

With slow, disbelieving movements, Ginny leaned over and peered into the box, her eyes widening when she took in the neat rows of gingersnaps that were inside.

"Riddle… I don't…" Ginny began, but her words died off in absolute speechlessness.

"I asked the house elves to make them for me," said Riddle indifferently. "You had mentioned smelling them in your Amortentia, and I had nothing else to work with-"

Ginny cut him off by hopping to her feet and tossing her arms around him.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Ginny said happily. "They smell just like Mum's, and I've been missing her so badly, and gosh, Riddle, they're perfect. I never would have thought… Merlin, you're absolutely unbelievable!"

Riddle was standing stiffly in Ginny's vice grip, and even though Ginny's brain was flashing little warning signals that blared, _He likes you, don't encourage it_, she didn't especially care.

"Peverell," said Riddle. Ginny could feel him speak, the breath from his words soft on her hair. His lips must have been within centimeters of her head. She didn't want to let go. "It was really _nothing_."

The Head Boy's last word came out choked and forced, as if he were hardly able to breathe.

"No," Ginny argued. She finally stepped away, even though it bothered her to do so. "They're perfect. I had six brothers, and I can't remember when they'd put so much thought into a Christmas present. I… thank you."

Riddle shook his head. His face was strangely closed off.

"You miss your family," he said.

Ginny swallowed and shrugged. She didn't think she could actually talk about them.

"Kinda, yeah. You know, Christmastime and everything. It's harder now." She could feel her throat getting really tight, and quickly turned around to grab her box of gingersnaps. "Thanks again, but I really have to go, and…" Ginny stopped. She didn't want to cry in front of Riddle. "I should go get ready for Slughorn's thing. You should too. We're supposed to be at the party in, like, forty five minutes. Um… gingersnap?"

"No," said Riddle. "I did not get them for myself."

Then he turned and began heading towards his staircase. Ginny mirrored his movements and retreated to her own room.

…

A half hour later, Ginny walked down her staircase wearing the dress robes that Dumbledore had packed for her- she'd obviously saved her dress for the ball- and nibbling on the end of a gingersnap. Her mood had increased exponentially as she finally processed just what Tom Riddle- the boy who had turned into _Lord Voldemort_- had done for her.

It was amazing, and it made her strangely happy. Even considering that she should have been having fun with her family instead of skulking around with the Heir of Slytherin, Ginny had to admit that getting a gift of any kind from the Head Boy was pretty impressive, even if he probably hadn't put much effort into it.

Like always, Riddle was already ready when Ginny stepped into the common room, and she smiled happily at him.

"I see that you're in a better mood," replied Riddle dryly. He must have stolen from one of his rich Death Eaters, or something, because he was wearing brand new, extremely expensive-looking dress robes. Ginny assumed that they were probably Lestrange's, given that everyone else's would have been way too short, but despite being from a man-Wookie, they looked insanely good.

Ginny had never seen him in anything that wasn't cheap, worn, or slightly ill-fitting. Now, in clothes actually suited for someone with Riddle's personality, he looked absolutely amazing. Ginny's heart actually skipped a beat when she saw him.

Tom Riddle. The boy who killed people and gave her gingersnaps for Christmas and made a million exceptions for an unexceptional Hufflepuff.

"Well," Ginny started. She held out a hand for Riddle to take, even though it really wasn't necessary, not so far away from everyone else, and said, "I suppose we'd better get going."

Riddle took her hand without question, but there was something in his eyes that made Ginny's knees go weak. It was like he knew something that she didn't.

"Of course. I could only imagine Slughorn's horror if his two prized students were late," he said. Ginny laughed as the two Heads started off to the dungeons.

"I can just see him, drinking himself unconscious as his 'special' guests keep asking him where the wonderful students that he's surely bragged up are. He'd never forgive us."

"If he would remember that we were not there in the first place," Riddle said dryly.

Grinning, Ginny said, "That's actually a good idea. I mean, we'd have to go for a little while, but I don't see any problem with sneaking off after Sluggy's had a few drinks. There's no way he'd remember we weren't there for the whole thing."

Riddle raised a brow.

"You aren't serious, Peverell."

"Of course I am," said Ginny. "I don't really want to go because I have a feeling that this is going to be boring. You don't want to go because you're practically antisocial. We could run off, go to the kitchens or something, and spend Christmas Eve with people we actually like."

Riddle raised a skeptical brow at this.

"Surprisingly, that sounds relatively logical."

"Obviously," Ginny snorted. "Everything that I say is logical, but most of the time, you're just too slow to realize it." They approached the door to Slughorn's room, and Ginny picked up her pace a little. "Now come on. Let's go hope that Slughorn gets drunk quickly so I can get out of here before I offend another ministry official."

"That was actually rather entertaining," Riddle commented.

"For you, maybe," Ginny said as they entered Slughorn's magically expanded classroom. There was garland and poinsettias everywhere, and strains of classic Christmas songs echoing through the air. Ginny had to laugh a little, remembering the potion professor's impromptu performance at his last big party.

"At least now he will not sound like a complete fool when he begins singing Christmas carols," Riddle commented under his breath, thinking along the same lines as Ginny, as the man in discussion bumbled over to them in his usual fashion.

Ginny wondered if it was possible for Slughorn to see someone come into a room without making sure that they knew he was there.

"Ginevra, Tom, such a _wonderful _couple," he said, just like he had when Ginny had been going out with Abraxas. Ginny supposed that he would be happy as long as she had a Slytherin on her arm. "I have to admit that you are both looking quite well."

"Thank you, sir," said Riddle, his voice and expression all politeness. "It really is an honor to be invited, and I look forward to seeing what guests you have brought this year."

Slughorn rose his wine glass to his lips and took a good-sized drink.

"I'm sure you are, Tom. I have told them all about you, of course. Now, I realize that you do not play Quidditch, but Arty Thomas, a great keeper for the Magpies back in '29, is very eager to meet you. I told him how tall you are, see, and he thinks that you could be a wonderful-"

Ginny cleared her throat innocently, and looked at Slughorn with wide, childlike eyes.

"Professor, forgive me for interrupting, but don't you think that Tom here is too smart to play Quidditch? I'm sure that he appreciates your interest in his future, but perhaps we could find someone else to speak to. Actually, I think I see a prominent ministry person standing right over there…" She pretended to look at someone over his shoulder, then continued, "Yes, we'll go speak to her. I think that I see Orion and Cygnus just coming in, and I'm sure that they'd be much more interested in talking to good ol' Arty, don't you think?"

Then, before Slughorn could reply, Ginny grabbed Riddle's arm and ducked away from Slughorn, who had already turned to go after Orion. Riddle began chuckling as soon as they were out of the older wizard's hearing range.

"You would have made a wonderful Slytherin," said Riddle, repeating a compliment that he had given her before. Ginny made a face.

"The Sorting Hat actually considered that. And Gryffindor. It said I was too dumb for Ravenclaw, funnily enough, but I don't know what caused it to shoot down Slytherin. It probably thought I smiled too much or something."

Riddle looked vaguely surprised at this knowledge, but said, "You're too good for Slytherin, to be quite honest. I'm not surprised at hearing that it considered you for Gryffindor, however."

"Of course not. Brave and stupid, did you call me the other day?" she asked, almost running over a tiny house-elf that was carrying a platter over its head. After a second of hesitation, she reached after it and grabbed a chocolate covered strawberry. "Now _that's _a compliment."

Ginny popped the strawberry into her mouth, absentmindedly vanishing the stem when she was finished, and Riddle only shook his head in disdain.

"Allow me to retract that Slytherin comment. No self-respecting member of my house would ever say such a thing."

They stopped in front of a couple of chairs and Ginny plopped down as she said, "Not a Slytherin? Such a pity."

"It is, considering that you are a Hufflepuff," Riddle said, taking a seat beside her.

"Hey, my house is wonderful," Ginny argued. "Very strange and untalented, but we're _great_ people, and that you can't argue with. I've made friends with you, haven't I?"

"True," Riddle said. It seemed like he was honestly contemplating something, and, after a moment, he said, "I suppose that, if other Hufflepuffs are anything like you, your house would have the potential to be unquestionably dangerous."

Ginny turned to look at Riddle strangely, not quite able to believe that he had actually said that, but then realized that he was actually right. Hufflepuffs were totally harmless-looking and had a way of worming their way into people's hearts- if they had it in them, they could totally use that against everyone else.

She fell silent as she considered this, and after a moment, a really strange feeling overcame her, keeping her from commenting on Riddle's words. The party was by no means quiet, and Slughorn's music had switched to a terrible, shrieking 'modern' Christmas song, but Ginny felt like she and Riddle were in their own little world, someplace completley seperate from everyone else.

Riddle may have not been anything close to her actual family, but somehow, being with him filled up a tiny little bit of the hole that the Weasleys had once completley filled.

A good chunk of time passed like that, just sitting there next to each other, and then Riddle touched Ginny's arm to get her attention. His eyes were on Slughorn, who had another full glass of wine and was now speaking with Abraxas and some tall, gray-haired man with a big nose.

"He's not drunk yet," Riddle said, "but it seems that he has forgotten about us."

"Should we make our escape?" asked Ginny, even though she was rather loathe to move.

"It's as good a time as any," Riddle replied, and then the two Heads slipped out of the crowded room, completely unseen, walking hand in hand.


	39. Grindelwald and Fairytales

As Ginny and Riddle moved away from Slughorn's office, Ginny's breathing grew tighter. For how content she had been in the warm, cheery room, and how almost _happy _she had been while holding Riddle's hand, something changed once they were away from the other students.

Almost everyone who had stayed for the entire break was a part of the Slug Club, so the corridors were completely empty. Everything was quiet, and the flickering candles threw strange-looking shadows off the stone walls. As Ginny walked, her emerald necklace thumped against her chest in a strange rhythm, feeling a lot heavier than usual.

There was a feeling in the air, like something was wrong, but Ginny continued walking forward, still close to Riddle, figuring that she was just being paranoid.

Then the Head Boy stumbled.

If Ginny was certain of anything, it was that Tom Riddle did not stumble. She knew him, and she had seen him walk for four months straight, and there had not been a single time that his gait was anything less than perfect, not up until that point, anyway.

Riddle recovered so quickly that Ginny momentarily doubted that his step had even faltered in the first place, but she still found herself asking, "Is something wrong?"

"No," Riddle replied. His features were perfectly honest, with no surprise or out-of-place emotion in his eyes at all. His words came out without any hesitation, and smoothly, he explained, "I was just a little… distracted, is all. Please, forgive me."

Ginny considered this. Tom Riddle _was _human. Maybe he had stumbled. Maybe she _had _distracted him.

_And maybe Riddle likes candy canes and unicorns, too, _Ginny thought to herself.

Still skeptical, she turned her eyes back to the Head Boy to gauge his reaction, then started a little when she realized that he was already walking forward again, not even taking the time to see if she was still cynical.

If he had been lying, wouldn't he have made sure that she'd believed him?

Ginny had felt _something_, though. In fact, she still did. Riddle did, too. Or maybe he had even heard something, something that Ginny couldn't hear. Otherwise his step wouldn't have faltered. He was lying.

"Is it the basilisk?" Ginny asked. "It's not doing anything wrong, is it? I mean, it's been weeks, and the thing hasn't killed anyone yet. So…"

"Don't worry," Riddle said unconcernedly. "The basilisk isn't going to hurt you. Nothing is wrong."

Nothing is wrong.

Ginny had long learned to distrust those words, but she had also, for quite a while, learned that she _could _trust Tom Riddle. He had stepped in front of a basilisk for her. He _liked _her. He had all but admitted to caring about her.

If this was something little, something that Riddle thought he could handle on his own, or that Ginny didn't need to know, was there anything wrong with him keeping it to himself? Riddle would have told Ginny that something was going on if it really concerned her.

Why would he lie to her? They were friends. Of that she had no doubt.

"You're sure?" asked Ginny, just to be positive.

"Yes," said Riddle. His voice softened. "I'm sure that you're just concerned about the dark, or something of that sort. There is _nothing _wrong."

His voice was so smooth and perfect that Ginny almost believed him.

"Okay," she said, releasing a low breath. "You're probably right."

Riddle didn't respond, and Ginny said nothing else the rest of the way to the kitchens.

Once the Heads had stepped through the fruit portrait and into the kitchens, Riddle politely asked a house elf to get hot chocolate for Ginny, declined anything for himself, and took a seat at a table. Ginny sat down in the chair next to his.

"I can't believe that tomorrow's Christmas," said Ginny after a moment. The kitchens were quite warm, and the sounds of the House Elves bustling about gave her a feeling of safety and familiarity.

Nothing was wrong.

"I don't particularly care," Riddle spoke evenly. "It's a day, generally the same as any other."

"You've just never really cared about it before," Ginny argued. A house elf set the hot chocolate in front of her, and she wrapped her cool hands around it, smiling at the warmth, before continuing, "I bet if you ever let anyone care about you enough to invite you to their home for Christmas, or if you would even celebrate it yourself, well, I'm almost sure that you'd see it differently."

"I doubt this," said Riddle bitterly. "As right as you have been about other things, I have never taken any joy in having things that I do not have flaunted directly in front of me."

Ginny took a small sip of her drink. Riddle's tone confused her, and she wasn't sure if he wanted to hear what she had to say. Of course, that had never stopped her before, but Ginny wasn't feeling very brave that evening, not since they had left Slughorn's party.

"Well," Ginny finally began, figuring that, even if something _was _wrong, it was totally separate from her or Riddle. Until something turned up where it wasn't supposed to be, she would do good to simply forget any strange suspicions. "Don't you think that things are a little different this year? You have a family, even if it's just a lousy, clingy Hufflepuff, and you _are _celebrating Christmas, and now _nothing _will be flaunted in front of you, because you'll be a part of all of it."

"Peverell," warned Riddle.

"Riddle," Ginny repeated, mocking his tone. "I got you a present, you're going to come to the big meal that Dippet has- with all the tables Transfigured into one-, and maybe I can even get some Christmas food made for tomorrow evening, to show you what real family baking tastes like."

"I have no interests in any sweets or-"

Ginny put her hands over her ears.

"I will not hear this blasphemy," she protested, probably a little ridiculously. Then, at seeing Riddle's amusement, Ginny added, "What? No person in their right mind would say that they 'have no interest' in anything sugary or unhealthy!"

Riddle was looking strangely amused, in a rather good mood, despite his Scrooge-like protests in regards to Christmas, and Ginny was just thinking about how nice this was, and how she wanted to stay in her place all night, when Riddle's smirk froze on his face.

_Nothing is wrong my arse. _

Ginny opened her mouth to demand to know what was going on, to ask why his happy little smirk was gone, and to force him into telling her why, exactly, she felt like ice was beginning to form in the pit of her stomach.

Then Riddle's mouth opened into a wide yawn, and Ginny hesitated. When he was done, his smirk was back in place.

Had his yawn been a cover-up, or was he just tired?

"My apologies, Peverell, but business kept me up late last night. Stay longer if you want to, but I am eager to get at least a small amount of rest given that I am sure you will have me up at a ridiculously early hour tomorrow morning."

"No earlier than you're usually up," Ginny tried to tease, but her voice was weighed down with suspicion. "But, by all means, go sleep. I think I'm going to stay here and relax a little bit."

Riddle looked strangely pleased by that response, but by that time Ginny hardly even dwelled on it. She was starting to debate whether or not she was acually going paranoid.

"Very well, then. Good evening, Peverell."

"Night Riddle," Ginny said.

There was a moment of hesitation on Riddle's part, and then, before Ginny could react, the Head Boy was bending down and softly kissing her forehead. The touch was soft as butterfly wings, and Ginny barely even managed to comprehend that the Heir of Slytherin was giving her something akin to a goodnight kiss before he stood up straight, backed away, and left the kitchens.

Ginny's suspicions dissolved into other, less coherent thoughts.

…

When Ginny returned to the common room a half hour or so later, Riddle was no where in sight. It was only a little after nine, and even though he had said he was tired, Ginny hadn't expected him to go to sleep quite that early.

Yet, Ginny wasn't about to knock on his bedroom door and see if he was in there, and if he wasn't, she wouldn't have the slightest idea as to the Head Boy's location, so she decided to either indulge him in his lie or allow him to rest, depending on the actual circumstances.

Still… she was worried. Gentle kiss of the forehead aside, Ginny didn't like the way that his yawn/grimace had occured _right _before his sudden disappearance.

_'m being paranoid, _Ginny repeated to herself, almost like a mantra. After a few more moments, she calmed down a little and realized that she really _wasn't_ thinking clearly. A deep breath or two dulled her worry, and when she tried to find the worry in the air again, it had disappeared.

At that moment, everything felt safe and normal.

With nothing else to do and a new sense of complacent security, Ginny moved to return to her room. Riddle was obviously in his, there was nothing wrong, and Ginny needed to quit letting every little noise or misread look affect her so strongly.

When Ginny reached her room, she smiled a little bit at the pile of presents that had accumulated underneath her bed. When she looked at the small stack a little more closely, she noticed that Allison and Erin's gifts were already there, as well as a small package from the rest of the seventh year Hufflepuffs. Added to that was something from Orion- which Ginny was less than eager to open, and then, upon closer examination, a book, hidden amongst everything else.

Ginny crouched down and curiously plucked the book out from underneath the neatly wrapped packages, although she knew that whoever had put it there obviously meant for it to be found the next morning.

A quick examination of the rather large volume proved it to be what looked like a completely normal copy of _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_. Ginny's hands began shaking even though she wasn't quite sure why, and after a moment's hesitation, she nervously opened the volume up to the cover page. Written on the back side of the cover was a short message in neat, familiar handwriting.

_Ginny, _

_I know that we haven't been getting along lately, and I apologize for that. Occasionally I find myself struggling to determine what is necessary and what is right, and what lines need to be crossed to do the 'necessary'. You are the first person at this school that has cared enough to attempt any kind of friendship with me, and though I realize that your efforts have only brought you hardships, I do appreciate them all the same._

_As you probably know, I am terrible at saying what I feel, so perhaps this small gesture can serve as a sign of forgiveness. I admit to being prejudiced to Riddle and skeptical of his nature, but I should have trusted your judgment more than I did. I deeply regret my words and miss you more than I had expected, so I offer this book as both a Christmas present, and a plea for one more chance._

_Mason_

_P.S.- Remember that I rarely do things that don't mean anything. You, of all people, should see the significance in this particular book if you look closely enough. My uncle, if I remember correctly, was quite fond of it himself. _

Ginny, shocked and confused, stared down at the book with wide eyes. Mason's petition for forgiveness was one thing, and she was genuinely warmed by his words, but the meaning conveyed at the end of his message was strangely troubling.

He'd obviously given her the book of fairytales for a reason, one that Ginny should apparently understand more easily than most other people, though she could not for any reason fathom why. Not only that, but, whatever Mason was trying to communicate had something to do with Grindelwald, as well.

Swallowing, Ginny moved to close the book, but stopped as she saw bright, blazing letters magically appear and flash across Mason's message.

**DO NOT TELL RIDDLE. **

Within seconds, the letters vanished into the pages, but Ginny had gotten the idea.

Mason did not want Riddle seeing that message under any circumstances. Whatever he was saying, prejudices aside, would be dangerous in the Head Boy's hands, and after reading his apology, Ginny understood that Mason would not imply this without a reason.

That message contained a hint that Mason knew Riddle would obviously understand before Ginny, a hint that, strangely enough, Mason mentioned nothing about explaining to her. It was like he didn't think they would ever get the chance to talk about it.

Still numb with surprise and dizzy from bewilderment, Ginny grabbed a blank sheet of parchment and quickly scribbled down Mason's note, word for word, even including his apology. Then she vanished his message from the front cover of the book and returned it to the pile of presents, vowing to make it look like any other gift from a friend.

Although Ginny was curious as to what Mason had meant in his message, she was also tired, despite it still being relatively early. For whatever reason, it felt like she had expended a lot of energy that day, and the hopeful thought that tomorrow was Christmas made her eager to prompt the next day into reality as quickly as possible.

After Ginny got ready for bed, her thoughts swarming with riddles and secret notes and strangely chosen books, she curled up under her covers and closed her eyes. Riddle had kissed her forehead and given her a Christmas present. Mason had forgiven her and given her a mystery.

Both gifts snuggled close to her heart and gave her a strange sense of _rightness_, even though there was a distinct _wrong _feeling about something that Ginny couldn't place.

_Later_, though the Head Girl tiredly. _If something bad really happened, I'll find out about it later. _

Then she closed her eyes and drifted off into a strangely peaceful sleep.

**A/N-**

**600 reviews! For one thing, that's about one hundred comments in the last three chapters, which is ridiculous in itself, but I'm also shocked that I ever got so many in the first place. So I thank all of you for that.**

**Again, I'll try to get another update up Wednesday, and I hope that all your reviews continue to be as amazing as they have been. I really appreciate it when so many people take the time to comment on this.**

**~bballgirl32~**


	40. Losing and Forgetting

Ginny woke up bright and early the next morning. Blinking blearily, she looked around her room, taking in the plain walls and messy, paper-topped desk. The complete lack of decorations, not to mention the absence of Fred and George's loud arguments over who got what and Ron's moaning about how tired he was of getting maroon jumpers, disoriented Ginny for a moment. There was a little voice in her head saying, 'It's Christmas', but she wasn't quite buying it.

It _wasn't _Christmas, not like she was used to it, but Ginny still slowly got to her feet. Sure enough, there was a small stack of presents sitting at the foot of her bed. Mason's book still rested on top of Erin's gift, just where she had left it the night before.

_It's Christmas, _Ginny reminded herself. _It's Christmas. _

Slowly, as if unsure how to open presents without anyone else around, Ginny sat herself down next to the relatively small pile. Part of her wanted to go down to the common room and open everything with Riddle, just so she had _someone _to share the moment with, but Ginny figured it'd be awkward to open even her few presents in front of someone who would most likely only have one.

After a short hesitation, Ginny reached out and picked up the box Orion had sent her first. She figured he probably got her something stupid and wanted to get it out of the way as soon as possible.

Ginny pulled the ribbon on the little box and tore the paper away to reveal a fancy velvet jewelry box.

Why would Orion Black be giving her jewelry?

Not putting anything past the Slytherin bastard, Ginny stretched to snag her wand off of her bedside table, then gently prodded the top of the box with it. Nothing happened. Nonverbally, Ginny cast a spell to open it.

There was a ring inside, with a tiny little card wedged underneath. In bold, cocky cursive, Orion had written, _Abraxas requested that I get you something. Don't flatter yourself into thinking I actually thought of you. _

Ginny sighed, but pulled the ring out from its box. The thing was probably cheap to Orion- no doubt plucked out of some cousin's trash- but it was still beautiful. White gold with sapphires and a diamond in the middle.

After admiring the ring for a few moments, Ginny returned it to its place and began sifting through her other things. Erin had gotten her a cardigan, Allison a pretty bracelet, and the other Hufflepuffs a truckload of candy.

Back in 1998, Ginny would have gotten at least a dozen more presents. Between Harry, Luna, Hermione, and her entire family, she usually came out pretty well, despite her lack of money. It was kind of wrong of her to be so disappointed in something so small and material, but she was, and it was made worse because Abraxas, someone she figured would have been almost idiotic in his desire to get her a good present, had gotten her _nothing_.

Even the stupid Malfoy heir was forgetting about her.

Shaking her head sharply, Ginny reminded herself that, if she actually bothered with her mission, next Christmas would be normal again.

Then she thought of Riddle and climbed to her feet, adamantly reminding herself that Christmas wasn't a time to be thinking about missions or murder. With a slight sigh, Ginny nudged her few gifts off to the side and made her way out of her room. At the last second, she remembered to grab Riddle's present from a small stack in the corner, then made her way down the stairs with a relatively convincing smile on her face.

Riddle was nowhere in sight when Ginny got down to the common room, but it was early enough that Ginny assumed he was either still at breakfast or maybe not even awake yet. For a few minutes, she restlessly turned his neatly wrapped gift over in her hands. When that got boring, the Head Girl yawned and sprawled herself out across her big chair, stretching and getting ready to doze off for a little while, when the door to Riddle's room creaked open.

Now feeling genuine excitement, Ginny sat up straighter and turned in her chair, peeking up over the back of it like an eager five-year-old. Riddle, already dressed and looking perfectly pristine, looked entertained by this.

"Your silliness never fails to amaze me," said Riddle without introduction.

"Happy Christmas to you, too," Ginny replied, turning in her chair as Riddle moved to his own seat. Slightly nervous, she added, "Do you want your present?"

Riddle didn't look too excited, but, then again, it was Tom Riddle. Ginny was pretty positive that he didn't get excited.

Without waiting for the Head Boy's response- as it appeared that he wasn't going to give any- Ginny reached out and dumped the box in Riddle's lap. He looked at it as if he wasn't quite sure what to do with himself.

"First you _open _it," tried Ginny. Riddle sent her a nasty look, but still didn't move. Awkwardly, she added, "It's probably stupid. I couldn't think of anything that you'd want. It's kind of hard, shopping for the Heir of Slytherin."

At this Riddle finally relaxed a little bit, moving to tear away the paper in neat, precise movements. His face remained impassive as he looked over what Ginny had gotten him, and his eyes were focused downward so that she couldn't even try to read them.

"I figured," Ginny began awkwardly, "that you wouldn't totally hate it, and it's more personal than a book. I mean, since you're planning on running off and ruling the world after you're done at Hogwarts, and I'm definitely _not _going to be doing that, we probably won't ever see each other again after this year. Maybe it's kind of stupid on my part, but I just… don't want you to forget about me."

Riddle blinked several times, and Ginny could see him regarding the worn picture frame in his hands with an almost scientific curiosity. Ginny craned her neck a little bit, even though she already knew what was in the frame. She'd talked Allison into sneaking a picture of them sitting together in potion's class. Ginny couldn't remember what day it had been, but the picture Ginny was talking animatedly about something, and the Riddle was attempting to take notes, only pausing to shoot Ginny one of his nasty looks.

Allison had also taken pictures of them holding hands, or Riddle fake-smiling like an idiot, but Ginny had picked the one that was actually real. She rather foolishly hoped that, even if she couldn't find it in herself to complete her mission, Riddle really would still remember her enough to keep him from being as terrible as he had been originally.

"I bought the frame at the old second-hand shop in Hogsmeade," Ginny continued blabbering when Riddle didn't say anything. She was nervous that he'd laugh at her for giving him something so cheesy. "I looked for a long time, at pendants and books and other junk like that, but those were things that _anyone _could get for you. I felt like, because I'm your only real friend, I had to get you something special. If you don't like it, though, don't worry, I can-"

Riddle held up a long-fingered hand, and Ginny shut her mouth immediately.

"I… appreciate it," he said.

"But you don't like it?" asked Ginny.

"Peverell," chuckled Riddle darkly. "I've been spending this entire year trying to forget you- to ignore your unfortunate existence. You are ruining me. I _want _to forget you."

"Oh," Ginny said. She wasn't quite sure how to take that. "So I assume you want something else."

Riddle smirked a little.

"I said that I want to forget you. However, I am fast coming to realize that doing so would be impossible." He returned the picture to its box, and set it loosely in his lap. "I'm paving hell too thoroughly to turn around and stop, but maybe you can slow me down a short while longer."

"Or maybe I could help you quit completely?"

Shaking his head, Riddle said, "You have slowed me significantly, but even you won't be able to stop me completely." After a short pause, he added, "And that was if I had any intention of trying to stop in the first place."

"So after everything I've said, you still want nothing but power?" asked Ginny.

"I still want power," Riddle corrected. "But now… I want to possess other things, too. I want _more_ than just power."

"More? What can you want if you have the world?"

Riddle stood up, his dark eyes shining brightly.

"You're Head Girl, Peverell. Figure it out."

Then he walked off with his Christmas present still in his hands.

Ginny looked after him for a moment. She wasn't quite sure _what _his reaction to the present had been, but it kind of worried her. His words had shaken her quite a bit, even though Ginny shouldn't have been that shocked at them. It had just been so long since he had spoken about anything like that that Ginny had almost forgotten that Riddle _was _evil.

Shaking her head a little, Ginny pushed him out of her mind and got to her feet. It was Christmas, and, if nothing else, she could at least find Mason and talk to him about that book he had given her.

With this in mind, Ginny left the common room just as Riddle had moments before, and began walking in the direction of the Hufflepuff basement. The halls were pretty much empty, and Ginny arrived quickly, somewhat disconcerted to see only three other people in the usually crowded room.

Sidestepping a plant, Ginny walked over to Russell Brennan, a skinny third year, and asked, "Have you seen Mason?"

Russell jumped a little. A lot of the younger kids were still kind of scared of Ginny given her tendency to hang around Slytherins. It was funny, she thought, that they flocked around Mason- Grindelwald's bloody nephew- but that they avoided her like _she _was a basilisk.

"Er, uh… no," Russell stuttered. "H-he left to go to t-that party l-last night, but I didn't s-see him c-come back." Coughing, he added, "I d-didn't stay up v-very late, though."

Ginny nodded. That made sense. If Mason hadn't left the party until it was actually over, Russell had probably long been asleep. Quickly, she checked to see that he wasn't still sleeping, and when he wasn't in his room, Ginny thanked Russell and left. Her next stop was the Great Hall, but Mason wasn't there either.

_The castle is big_, Ginny reminded herself. _He could be anywhere_.

Ginny started out by heading towards the dungeons. Mulciber hadn't gone home for the holidays, and Ginny guessed that Mason might be hanging out with his new best friend.

Just as she turned the last corner before she reached the start of what was widely considered 'Slytherin territory', a familiar figure rounded the same corner, screeching to a halt only inches before they would have collided.

Abraxas smiled widely, his bright teeth shining.

"I knew you'd come throwing yourself back at me eventually, but your timing is impeccable. Happy Christmas to me, huh?"

Ginny had to snort to keep from outright laughing.

"I don't think you've woken up quite yet, because that would obviously only happen in your dreams," Ginny said. Then, remembering something, she added, "Especially because you didn't get me anything for Christmas. I'd understand if you had no money, but you're not exactly wanting, and-"

Abraxas held up something that he had been carrying. Ginny hadn't noticed before, but her eyes widened a little when she saw a big stuffed dragon- a Hungarian Horntail- dangling from his hand.

"Abraxas," Ginny said slowly. "What is that?"

"Your Christmas present," he smirked. "I wanted to give it to you in person. I could have spent more- or gone dumpster diving in the family jewels, like Orion did- but then I remembered your brother, and I just thought-"

Ginny cut him off by jumping at him and wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. Riddle was great, and Mason's book was sweet, but Ginny was fast coming to realize that, despite being a prejudiced Slytherin and kind of an arsehole, Abraxas was more consistent than either of them. He wasn't evil, he actually _liked _her, and he wasn't related to any creepy dark lords.

He was just Abraxas, and if things had been different, Ginny knew that she would have kissed him right then and there.

_If we were from the same time period? _Ginny thought reluctantly, _Or if Riddle didn't currently exist? _

"Thank you," Ginny said, ignoring her thoughts. "I mean, seriously, that's one of the most awesome presents… you're amazing."

Abraxas, unlike Riddle, actually hugged Ginny back for a moment before putting her back down and placing the rather large dragon in her arms.

"And _that's _exactly why I wanted to give it to you in person," Abraxas laughed. Then, more seriously, said, "But why were you down here, anyway? I was just coming to look for you, but… nothing's wrong, is there?"

"Oh, no," Ginny said, waving a hand dismissively. "Mason and I have been fighting-"

"_Really_?" Abraxas asked sarcastically. It _had_ been kind of obvious, Ginny supposed.

"-but he sent me a Christmas present and a really sweet note, so I was going to go thank him for it, but I can't find him anywhere. I just figured that he might be with Mulciber."

Abraxas shook his head.

"Mulciber was looking for him earlier for some shit or another, but couldn't find him. I figured he was holed up down in your guys' basement thing. Have you looked there?"

"Yeah," said Ginny. Now she was getting really nervous. "He hadn't been there since last night. What, exactly, was Mulciber saying?"

Shrugging, Abraxas said, "I don't know. Something about meeting McCreery earlier this morning. He never showed up, I'm guessing. Why? Is something going on?"

"I'm not… sure," Ginny answered hesitantly. It wasn't good that Mason had disappeared. It really, really wasn't good. "I mean, Mason's strange like that. He'd be the type to go off on his own for a really long time, but…"

"But you're still worried. How about this? If he doesn't reappear by tomorrow morning, I'll help you look. Until then, I'd just wait if I were you. Mason skulks around by himself a lot, and I wouldn't be surprised if that's what he's doing now," said Abraxas.

Ginny looked at him hopefully.

"You think so?"

"Yeah," said Abraxas. "I do. Now, what are you doing? Cassie's in Italy, and I've got no one to bitch at me for another week, so..."

"Sorry," said Ginny apologetically. "I promised Riddle I'd do stuff with him today, and he doesn't like it when I ignore him for you." She squeezed her big dragon a little more tightly. "Thanks for the present, though. I really liked it."

"Oh, it was nothing," said Abraxas. "And I will keep an eye open for McCreery for you. I'm sure he's fine."

"I hope so," Ginny said, but as she turned to leave, she couldn't keep the worry out of her voice. Mason was the type to disappear for hours at a time, but he definitely was _not _the type to skip a meeting that he said he would be at.

_He'll be fine, _Ginny repeated in her head. _He's stronger than he looks_.

Her gut clenched with worry. She couldn't quite believe herself.

**A/N-**

**I have just one quick announcement to make. I'm changing update day from Wednesday to Thursday. They'll still be weekly (or biweekly, if I post on Sunday) and but I find Thursdays easier because I don't have church to work around. Other than that, I really appreciate all the reviews, and hope that you keep it up. **

**Next chapter, Riddle and Ginny visit Addison, and the ball is the one after that, so this should get really exciting real quick. **

**~bballgirl32~**


	41. Delusional Orphans

Ginny went looking for Riddle after her talk with Abraxas. Mason was still dancing through her head, not to mention that she was feeling more than a little confused about Riddle's strange reaction to her present that morning, but Ginny _had _promised to spend Christmas with the Head Boy, and she wasn't exactly keen on going around breaking promises to the Heir of Slytherin.

When Riddle wasn't sitting in the Head's common room, Ginny worried that he'd disappeared along with Mason. With slight trepidition, she crept closer to his room to see if he was in there. There wasn't any light peeking out from under his door, and everything was pretty much quiet, but it was doubtful that there weren't some kind of sound-proof charms on his door. Nothing said that he wasn't in there.

Ginny took a deep breath and slowly walked up the remainder of the staircase, approaching Riddle's door with the utmost caution. It took her a few seconds to gather up the courage to knock, and even then she only barely just tapped on the door. A few moments passed by without a response.

_Okay, _Ginny thought. _He's probably not there. _

Just as she turned to retreat to the common room, the portrait creaked open and Ginny whirled around. Riddle ducked into the room.

Ginny froze, watching without breathing as he looked around the common room for her, then turned a little, his dark eyes scanning the surrounding area before traveling up the staircase and settling on her. It didn't escape her notice that she was standing suspiciously close to the door.

"I was looking for you," Ginny blurted awkwardly. Her cheeks were flaming. "You know, because I said we'd do stuff together today. You can check and make sure I didn't touch anything, if you want."

Riddle shrugged unconcernedly. For someone who was usually so paranoid about the little things, Riddle didn't look like he was particularly suspicious about Ginny breaing into his room.

"I would know if you tried to enter," Riddle responded, his lips turned up into a slight smirk. It looked like he found something very amusing. "Your face would have been dyed bright green. I find it... useful to know if someone has a mind to take interest in things that are not theirs."

"Isn't that kind of risky, putting a charm like that on your door?" Ginny asked, hastily moving to rejoin him in the common room. "I mean, what if Dumbledore wanted to look around in your room?"

The Head Boy chuckled a little. He was moving towards Ginny, or maybe to his staircase, which she had stopped on, standing unsurely on the last step.

"Let me specify. If _you _tried to look around, your face would turn green. I have a simple distraction charm placed on the door for everyone else's benefit."

"Don't you trust me?" Ginny asked, already knowing the answer. To be honest, she wouldn't have been surprised if Riddle had taken even more measures against her. There were probably a million more violent charms in his room that he failed to mention, probably because the sick and twisted part of him would enjoy seeing her get her skin dissolved off by some kind of dodgy dark magic.

"Of course not," said Riddle. He'd reached her and was stopped in front of the staircase. Too close and not close enough. Ginny cursed herself for such a stupid thought. "You're too innocent to trust. Now, if you would…"

He gestured for her to step out of the way.

"Why do you want to go up there?" Ginny asked. "I thought we could-"

"I need my coat," interrupted Riddle. He was smirking. "It's the… second half of my Christmas present."

"And that would be…?"

"A visit."

"Wait…" Ginny trailed off, her eyes widening and a smile spreading across her face when she realized what he was talking about. "Addison?"

Riddle nodded, and Ginny had to refrain from hugging him again. She didn't want to give off the wrong- or too right- impression.

"That would be-"

She hesitated. Did she really want to leave the castle when Mason was possibly missing? Ginny considered asking Riddle about it, questioning him on whether or not he had seen the basilisk, but something kept her from saying anything.

The dramatic '_DO NOT TELL RIDDLE' _on her Christmas present popped into her head. Mason had been hiding something from Riddle, and it seemed like, if he had disappeared so close to giving her something that important, well… Ginny hated to be distrustful, but the Head Boy probably had something to do with it. Not wanting to make it look like she was accusing Riddle for something he may or may not know about, Ginny finished her sentence with a convincing grin.

"That would be great."

She stepped past him, her shoulder brushing against his chest, and ran off to get Addison's present and one of her cloaks, vowing to push Mason out of her head for the rest of the day. It'd be stupid, letting his disappearance get to her on Christmas when there was probably nothing wrong with him.

Mason was strange. He'd probably wanted some alone time. That was that.

…

A few minutes later, Ginny and Riddle were boredly waiting in the Ministry's atrium. There were giant Christmas trees dotting the walls and festive flowers bordering benches, but the place was still pretty desolate. A secretary and a few scattered businessmen were the only people in sight.

"She's late," Riddle said.

Ginny snorted.

"And you think that's her fault? Be patient. I think you're just hoping she doesn't come."

"Actually, I would be rather upset if she doesn't show up. That would mean I would be subject to your miserable arrangements for the rest of the day, and I would much rather go through with this than anything you have thought up."

"You would have _loved _my plans," Ginny shot back, making a distasteful face. One of the fireplaces kicked up, and a familiar gray-haired man stepped out. A step behind him was a tiny dark-haired girl.

Riddle had been about to say something to Ginny, but he was cut off by Addison's childlike shout of, "Ginny! Tom!"

The man from the orphanage tried to keep a hold on her, but Addison squirmed free and sprinted for Ginny and Riddle. She tripped a little at the last second, but wound up stumbling right into Riddle's legs. Ginny watched with a bemused smile as a rigid-looking Head Boy caught and steadied her, then endured one of her enormous hugs with a coolly polite smile.

"I missed you so much," Addison continued on, stepping away from Riddle and wrapping her thin arms around Ginny's waist. She moved back again, and Ginny could see that she was wearing a torn plaid dress and had big red ribbons in her hair. "Thank you so much for this. I was _so _happy when Mister Collins told me that you were visiting me today."

The gray-haired man grunted a little.

"You can go," Ginny volunteered. She waved him off impatiently- he left without hesitation-, then said, "And you shouldn't be thanking me. It was Riddle's idea."

Addison tilted her head a little, then peered at Riddle.

"Thank you, but…" She pursed her lips. "Why?"

Riddle furrowed his brow.

"Because I wanted to see you. Peverell, especially, was looking forward to spending time with you again. Also, I believe that she wanted to give you something."

Addison turned back towards Ginny, her eyes landing on the sparkling silver bag for the first time.

"No way," she said breathlessly. "I mean…" She shook her head and ventured forward, hands held out a little as if to steady herself. "This is..."

Ginny smiled and handed the little girl the bag.

"Here. Happy Christmas."

Addison slowly reached into the bag and pulled out a small bag of sweets. She set that aside, found a tin of homemade biscuits, and, shaking her head, stuck her arm in one more time to pull out the emerald green jumper that Ginny had made for her.

With shaking hands, Addison shook it out a little and stared at her, her big eyes growing even bigger.

"You _made _this," she said, almost accusingly.

"Yeah. It's kind of bad, but I figured-"

Addison stuck it on over her dress and immediately turned to give Ginny another hug.

"It's _perfect_," she said, her slight lisp making the word even more exaggerated. She replaced the biscuits and sweets, then said, "I got something for you, too."

"We don't need-" Ginny started, but Addison was already digging in her dress pocket. A moment later, she had pulled out two pieces of string.

One she handed to Ginny, the other to an expressionless Riddle.

Two Christmas presents in one day. _Poor Voldemort, _thought Ginny. _He probably thinks he's going insane. _

Curious as to what Addison had given them, Ginny examined the string more closely. It was actually woven through a thin metal plate and looped around. A bracelet, Ginny realized. There was a white heart painted onto the metal.

"So you never forget how much I love you," she said. Ginny peeked over and saw that Riddle's was exactly the same as hers. "I made them as soon as I got your first letter, just for you. They're okay, aren't they?"

"They're wonderful," Ginny said.

It took Riddle a little longer, but he formally added, "We appreciate your gesture."

"Now, I say we should get some cocoa," Ginny said. "If that place we went to last time is open, can we go there?"

Riddle shrugged, and Addison agreed emphatically, so the three of them left the Ministry and started walking down one of the snow-covered streets. Ginny wound up walking in between Addison and Riddle. Even with Addison there, Riddle didn't bother walking more than a few inches away from her. His fingers occasionally reached out to brush against hers.

Ginny's face was on fire before they'd gone two blocks.

"I think," Addison said, "that this is the best Christmas I've ever had. The orphanage is nice- they even got me this new dress- but you're so much better. Even if Tom _is_ quiet today. Is everything okay, Tom?"

She leaned forward so that she could try to catch the Head Boy's gaze, but Riddle didn't bother even looking in the little orphan's direction. Ginny elbowed him in the ribs.

Riddle's face twisted into a miserable glower for a second before he schooled his features again and leaned forward to condescendingly look down at Addison.

"I'm simply distracted."

"Oh, am I taking away your private time with Ginny?" Addison asked breathlessly. Her smile turned into a very Slytherin-like smirk. "I'm sorry."

"No, that's not-" started Riddle.

"He's just socially awkward," Ginny cut in, trying to salvage the whole situation. "You probably didn't notice last time, but he's terrible around people."

Riddle sent her another withering glare, and Addison laughed a little.

"Oh. I thought you'd started seeing each other. I can clearly see that _he_ fancies _you_, at least. You like him back, right?"

Both Ginny and Riddle stopped.

"You're _eight_," Ginny said. "You shouldn't care."

"We _have _started seeing each other," Riddle replied at the same time. Ginny figured he couldn't stand having Addison think he was pining after her unrequitedly, because, in his eyes at least, that would be absolutely pathetic.

"I knew it!" Addison said happily, her big eyes getting even bigger. "See? Everyone at the orphanage says that everyone who's in love is doomed, but I told them all about you, about how perfect you are for each other."

Ginny started coughing uncontrollably, and Riddle's face had turned an unhealthy while.

"We aren't-" Ginny tried. _Riddle CAN'T. _

"I think that you are mistaken as to the severity of our attachment." That was Riddle. Obviously. Making love sound like a medical condition.

"No, I think that you are simply blind," Addison said happily. Riddle looked like he was going to be sick, but Ginny shook her head. She didn't want to shatter the obviously demented illusion of an eight-year-old. Riddle physically _couldn't _love her, and Ginny was morally opposed to loving Riddle.

Perfect?

Their 'relationship', which was technically still fake, was anything _but_ perfect.

"Maybe," Ginny acquiesced. They reached the little café shortly after, and Ginny couldn't help but notice that Riddle kept his distance after that.

…

The rest of the day was a million times more awkward than Ginny would have hoped. Spending time with Addison was great. She actually took the orphan ice-skating while Riddle uninterestedly watched from the side. The trio went through wizarding London and looked at Christmas lights.

When it started getting darker and colder, they wandered by a Muggle church and Addison asked them to slow down. For the next half hour or so, they hovered outside, Riddle looking like a vampire withering away in front of a cross, and Ginny and Addison huddling together and listening to the bells and music drifting out the propped-open front door.

Riddle was pretty much silent the entire time. He barely bothered with his usual politeness, only putting on enough of a show to convince an adoring eight-year-old that he wasn't evil. Grumpy, but not evil.

To Ginny, he was cold, like he wanted to do everything in his power to prove to her that Addison hadn't been even a little bit right when she was talking about them together. Ginny hadn't missed the way that Addison had talked about his feelings for her like they were obvious, but had been unsure about Ginny's.

Ginny didn't know if Riddle was more concerned about Addison chattering about love and perfect relationships, or if he was embarrassed by Addison's blatant announcement of the regard that Ginny had seen for over a week.

If it wasn't so annoying, it would have been amusing, Riddle's reaction to an eight-year-old's casually uttered words. As it was, Ginny couldn't help but pay attention to his cautious looks and brooding silence in between laughing and joking with Addison. Without Riddle there, she almost could have pretended to have been spending Christmas with a real family, or at least a random little sister.

Instead, Riddle and his grumpy attitude kept Voldemort and the future on her mind _constantly. _She couldn't entirely forget about Mason, and even though she had a ridiculously good time with Addison, so many things about the little girl screamed 'orphan'. Her cheap clothes, the way that so many little things amazed her, her constant disbelief that someone was actually taking the time to do things with her.

It was a bittersweet day, and as Ginny and Riddle walked Addison back towards the Ministry, Ginny regretfully couldn't be too sad that Christmas, something she had been looking forward to for so long, was drawing to a close.

"This was perfect," Addison said. They were only a block away. Little snowflakes had gotten caught up in her hair and eyelashes, and her usually pale cheeks were red from the cold. She was adorable. "I had more fun than I have _ever _had. Please, please visit again soon."

"We will," promised Ginny. "I swear it. Right Riddle?"

"I'm sure that Peverell will drag me back, if nothing else," he said with a cool smile. Then, adding a touch of actual affection, he finished, "I hope the remainder of your evening is not too bad."

"Oh, it shouldn't be. I promised Georgiana that we'd stay up late so I could tell her _everything _I did with you. Now I even have sweets and biscuits to share. It'll be _perfect_."

They paused in front of the doors. Addison stood on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around Riddle and Ginny, this time trying to hug them both at the same time, pulling the two Heads together for the first time that evening. Ginny leaned in to hug her back, and her shoulder pressed up against Riddle's before they all pulled away.

"Thank you for the bracelet," said Ginny. "I had a great time, and I can't wait to see you again."

"Me too," Addison said. Then, her eyes shining with tears but a smile still stretched across her lips, she waved, said, "Happy Christmas", and disappeared into the Ministry.

Riddle made to follow, but Ginny grabbed his arm.

"What's your problem?"

"That _girl_," Riddle said in a low, very Voldemort-like voice, "is going to fall _hard _when she comes to realize that the world is a terrible place."

"But it's not a terrible place," Ginny argued. "There are terrible people, terrible choices are made, and terrible things happen, but it's more than balanced out. Besides, that's not why you're mad. You didn't ignore Addison. You ignored _me._"

"I was simply trying to counter her absolutely ridiculous assertions-"

"Riddle," said Ginny, cringing a little before the words even came out of her mouth. "What she said, about you clearly liking me… you _know_ it's not ridiculous. If an eight-year-old can see through you that easily, don't you think I can, too?"

Then she turned and hurried away, not wanting to deal with whatever awkward conversation was surely waiting to take place.

As Ginny jogged into the Ministry and made a beeline for the nearest fireplace, she prayed that Riddle would go into a brief coma and wake up forgetting that this had ever happened.

Either they'd dance around it for weeks and be unable to have a real conversation with each other, Riddle would act like Ginny had never said anything, or he'd confront her on it, and Ginny would be forced to make a choice she just couldn't.

Good Merlin. _What _had she done?


	42. The Blind Can be Taught to See

Ginny bolted down to the Hufflepuff dorms as soon as she was back at Hogwarts. Allison wasn't getting back until New Year's, and Ginny doubted that the other girl would mind unknowingly loaning out her bed for a night. As it was, Ginny wasn't sleeping anywhere near Tom Riddle, not until she figured out what to say to him.

He was her friend. A friend who made her knees go weak and her face go red whenever he got too close. A friend who couldn't _love_. A friend with whom any relationship would be doomed to wither away and die.

Ginny couldn't bring herself to do any more than mumble a weak excuse to the few remaining Hufflepuffs who asked if she was okay before she ducked off into the girl's dorms.

_Riddle has feelings, too,_ Ginny told herself weakly_. Avoiding him isn't going to help._

But it would make things temporarily easier.

Riddle was far away. Ginny had a little time to think about what she was going to do with him.

This thought calmed her down somewhat, and through her worried thoughts, Ginny managed to slip into an uneasy sleep.

…

When Ginny crawled out of the dorms the next morning, Russell Brennan was waiting by her door with nervous eyes.

"Mason's not back yet," he coughed.

Ginny blinked at him several times, her muddled brain not quite absorbing what he said for a few moments. Then his words finally wormed their way into her head. Mason was still missing. That was over a day. He wouldn't have disappeared that long without telling _anybody_, would have he?

"You're sure?" Ginny asked, suddenly wide awake. Her problem with Riddle had quickly slipped from her mind. "I mean, he couldn't have snuck in late last night or anything?"

"I c-checked this m-morning," stuttered Russell. "In c-case you wanted to k-know."

Ginny let out a low, worried sigh.

"Thanks. I appreciate your help. Five points to Hufflepuff." Russell smiled tentatively, and Ginny brushed past him, her steps containing a trace of urgency as she hurried out of the common room.

Her first destination was the dungeons. It was still early, but she didn't care. Abraxas had never complained about anything to do with her before, and she doubted he was going to start. Besides, he _had _promised to help her find Mason.

As it was, Ginny didn't need to worry about waking up the Slytherin. Orion and he were walking up from the dungeons just as she reached the staircase that would have led her to the entrance of Slytherin's common room.

Abraxas looked a little worried when he saw her.

"You weren't sleeping well last night," he pointed out, his gaze lingering on the bruise-like shadows under Ginny's eyes. Orion muttered something under his breath that Ginny didn't bother trying to make out.

"Mason's still gone," Ginny replied, which was part of it. She didn't think it would be a good idea to tell him that she was debating whether or not she fancied a guy that she had been going out with for over a month. "I'm really sorry, but-"

"I promised I'd help you look," Abraxas finished, not sounding too upset about it at all. He turned his sharp blue eyes to Orion and said, "Go on to breakfast. I-"

"No, no," interrupted Orion smoothly. "Let me stay and help. Your friends are my friends, as always."

Ginny froze. She still didn't trust the stupid dark-haired Slytherin, and she especially didn't want to owe him _anything_. Any help on his part would surely be expected to be repaid later on.

"No, that's not necessary," she said quickly. "Abraxas and I are-"

"Abraxas, go ask Dippet if he knows anything," said Orion, speaking not like he was interrupting Ginny, but rather like he had no idea that she had been talking in the first place. "He may have received a note or something of that sort. It would be a good place to start."

"No," Ginny and Abraxas said at the same time. Abraxas seemed to instinctively step a little bit closer to Ginny.

"Oh, I'm not going to hurt her," Orion said to Abraxas, waving his hand dismissively. "There are simply a few things that we need to discuss. Go on. We'll meet up in an hour."

Orion looked at Ginny. His dark eyes had a strong enough effect on her that, before she really know what she was doing, she slowly agreed, "Go ahead, Abraxas. I can take care of myself."

"You're sure?" asked Abraxas. Ginny nodded, and the blond hesitantly started off towards Dippet's office, continually looking over his shoulder to make sure that his two friends weren't killing each other.

When he was finally gone, Ginny looked up and met Orion's gaze.

"So, you've finally figured out the mystery of McCreery's dirty past. I can tell. You wouldn't be so worried otherwise."

"I would have known a long time ago if you had just _told _me," Ginny muttered back, keeping her face frozen in a very Riddle-like mask. "Now what do you want? Unless you've kidnapped him, I highly doubt that I really want to hear anything you have to tell me."

"I wouldn't say that. Maybe I _do _know something. I've got eyes everywhere, Ginevra."

Ginny had to admit that he was right. He'd known about Mason, he was on to Riddle, and Ginny had never known him to be unable to answer a question. She could probably ask him a random first year's birthday, and he'd no doubt recite it off the top of his head.

Riddle studied books. Orion Black studied people.

"Alright, then. If you know something important, tell me… as long as it won't cost me more than I'm willing to give."

An impossibly charming smile stretched across his lips.

"What makes you think I want something from you?"

Ginny laughed.

"You're a Slytherin- a powerful one. Somehow I doubt that you came by your status honestly. Now what am I going to need to do to get that information out of you?"

Orion leaned closer, his dark eyes flashing suspiciously, like he was worried that the walls had ears.

"I know McCreery gave you a book for Christmas. _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_. What you need to do for me, for everyone, is to keep that little book to yourself. Do not so much as mention the title to that boyfriend of yours."

"Why?"

Orion backed up a ways and tilted his head at her, gray eyes amused, lips twisted in a semblance of a smile.

"You're lying, aren't you?" he asked.

"About what?" asked Ginny. She didn't know what she'd been given the opportunity to lie about, but she really didn't like his tone. It was so confident that Ginny didn't doubt that she _was _lying about something.

"Everything." He reached out and grabbed a strand of her hair, holding it up to the light, his eyes shining with realization as he did so. "If you were a Peverell, I would not have to tell you why Riddle can't know about that book. As it is, just keep reading. You'll stumble across it eventually."

Ginny had frozen, her mouth wide open, gaping at Orion Black. Without thinking about it, she yanked her hair away from his rough fingers.

"You're crazy," she said, too shocked to think of any better denial.

"Don't worry. I may mention this to Abraxas, but I don't exactly chat one-on-one with Riddle." He barked out a laugh. "Such a filthy Mudblood that he hasn't even heard the story…" Orion caught Ginny's expression and shook his head. "Never mind. You'll keep him from finding out about the book?"

Ginny nodded, even though she was still shaken. Orion wouldn't tell Riddle, that she was sure of, but… knowing that he knew something, and having no idea how, made her impossibly nervous.

"Yeah, I will… but why don't you think I'm a Peverell?"

"Research. I know wizarding names. The one you've adopted appears a lot in old text, and you'd… know things if you were actually part of that family. Don't ask what. I'm not telling you. Peverells were dark-haired, too. Oh, and for the record, if you're still interested in finding McCreery, Dippet's not the one to ask. Dumbledore would have a better chance of knowing if something really happened to him."

"Dumbledore?" asked Ginny. "Why?"

"He and Grindelwald used to be friends," Orion said. He was smirking. Ginny started to speak up, but Orion cut her off. "I wouldn't even try to present a lie that was so ridiculous, so don't accuse me of doing so. Dumbledore knows McCreery's secret. If your little friend had to leave because of something 'special', that'd be why. Now come on."

"But Dumbledore? Grindelwald? Orion, that makes absolutely no sense!" Ginny cried. Orion ignored her and started walking. Ginny shook her head. "Where are you going?"

"To ask Dumbledore about your friend. Coming?"

Ginny muttered something under her breath, but followed after him, even if she didn't believe anything that Orion said. She knew Dumbledore, and there was no way that he ever would have had anything to do with Grindelwald. Still, Orion was right in going to him, she supposed. He had always been more observant than Dippet.

Neither Ginny or Orion spoke as they walked. Ginny's mind was buzzing a little at her conversation with the seemingly omniscient Slytherin. That was two people who had told her to keep Riddle from reading a harmless children's book. Not to mention another person who'd seen through at least part of her ruse.

_At least he'd never tell Riddle_, Ginny thought, her eyes trained on the back of the stocky Slytherin's dark-haired head. If nothing else, Ginny was more worried that he'd tell Abraxas. She didn't know if she could stand it if the blond-haired Slytherin was so angry about all her lies that he quit talking to her, but she couldn't exactly tell Orion not to say anything. That'd just make him all the more eager…

They stopped in front of the door to Dumbledore's office before Ginny could make herself worry anymore. Orion knocked, and after Dumbledore's familiar voice politely bid them entrance, he played the gentleman and opened the door, elaborately waving Ginny through and then following behind her.

Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, shuffling through a small stack of papers, when Ginny and Orion stepped into his view. Ginny had avoided him throughout most of her visit in 1944- he always seemed to see right through her, and she didn't want him to guess the reason for her seemingly random presence- so she still wasn't very comfortable with the cheerful Transfiguration professor.

"Sorry to bother you," Ginny began nervously, "but Orion thinks that you might be able to help us with something."

"Oh, it's no problem, none at all," said Dumbledore in a fatherly voice. He set aside his papers and sat up as if eager to listen to them. If he thought that it was strange to see Ginny running around with Orion Black, he didn't comment. "Please, ask me anything you'd like."

"McCreery hasn't been seen for almost two days," Orion spoke up, his voice smooth and more genuinely charismatic than even Riddle could have managed.

For the first time, Ginny realized that if Orion had been willing to go to the measures Riddle had, if he had been as heartless as the Head Boy had a tendency to be, he could have been _more _than Lord Voldemort ever was. His heart beat stronger. His personality was so powerful that Ginny doubted he could mask it if he tried.

_That's probably how he wound up with two sons who died like heroes, _Ginny thought. _Because of that part of him that always seems to shine. _

Then again, Ginny was beginning to see a part of Riddle that was kind of like that, too.

"Has he?" Dumbledore asked, like this was news. "I'm afraid that-"

"Sir, forgive me, but cut the crap," Orion interrupted, speaking more bluntly than Ginny ever would have done to a professor, let alone Dumbledore. "We know about him and Grindelwald, and I have no doubt that if he ran off, you would know about it. It can't be classified information because we both know that he's gone. Miss Peverell just needs to know _where_."

Dumbledore looked genuinely surprised at this, which was something Ginny hadn't expected. She didn't know Dumbledore _could_ be surprised.

His eyes lightening a little bit, Dumbledore said, "I did receive a letter from him, although… it was rather suspicious."

"Suspicious how?" asked Orion, at the same time that Ginny asked, "Where is he?"

Dumbledore answered Ginny first.

"He's supposedly with his mother for a brief time, though-" Now he turned his gaze to Orion, "-the letter was left on my desk when I was not present. I am almost certain that it was written in his hand, but when I attempted to place a detection charm on the paper, it went up in flames." He smiled sadly. "I'm afraid that's all I can tell you."

Ginny bit her lip.

Either Mason had been forced to leave for some reason or another, or someone who knew about Mason's history had flawlessly forged a letter in his handwriting. Riddle would have been the only one who could have done that, and Ginny was pretty sure that everyone else in that room was thinking the same thing.

Maybe Mason was safe. Maybe he wasn't. If nothing else, the only places he could be were with his mother or with Riddle, and even though Ginny was worried, knowing this was better than not knowing anything.

Of course, Ginny wasn't exactly in Riddle's good graces at that moment, so she wasn't going to get a confirmation on Mason's whereabouts until she rallied up the guts to interrogate the Head Boy about it.

"Well, there you have it, Ginevra," said Orion. "He's with his mother. Now, I'm done here, and Abraxas will get anxious if we are late, so…"

Ginny nodded and turned to thank Dumbledore, but hesitated briefly.

He could help her with another problem.

"You go on ahead. I want to ask one more question."

Orion looked curious, but thankfully didn't comment. He left without another word, and Ginny waited a few moments before placing a sound-proofing charm on the door and returning to her place in front of Dumbledore.

"Miss Peverell. What is this about?" the Transfiguration teacher asked. Ginny took a deep breath. She wasn't sure she should be talking about this with him, but she had to know one little thing.

"Um… I know this will seem random, but you're the only wizard I can think of who might be able to answer my question. A…" She hesitated, but Dumbledore's gentle smile urged her into speaking. "An extremely intelligent wizard once told me that… if a child was born as the result of a love potion, they wouldn't know how to love."

Dumbledore's expression turned a little more solemn, but he bid for her to continue.

"I was just wondering if, you know, there's a chance that isn't true. I mean, wizards make up theories all the time, right? Would that be a fact, or is just a guess?"

Ginny bit her lip as Dumbledore deliberated for a moment. Then, gently, he said, "I can tell you nothing for certain. From what research has been done, it would be constituted as a fact." Ginny grimaced and opened her mouth to thank him, but Dumbledore spoke up before she had the chance. "_However_, the only theories I have heard on the matter say only that the witch or wizard would be _born _without the ability to love."

The Head Girl paused a moment, trying to figure out what he was saying, then, slowly, as her brain wrapped around the concept, asked, "So… if someone were to _teach _the wizard…"

"I am not sure," said Dumbledore. "This is not something that happens often, nor is something that is commonly studied. From what I have seen, I do not believe that it is possible, but if there is ever something I would like to be proven wrong about, it would be in regards to the power of love."

"So you really _don't_ think that they can ever love?"

"That doesn't matter. What do _you _think?"

Ginny wanted to bang her head against her desk. This was why she had always hated asking Dumbledore for help. He never gave straight answers, and everything that he said introduced more problems than it solved.

"I think…" she bit her lip. Riddle was trying. He had admitted to wanting more than power. It was obvious she'd changed him, at least a little. He wasn't terrible anymore. "I think there might be a chance."

"Then as long as you think so, there will be a chance. Even if he cannot love now, perhaps it _is _something that can be learned. But Miss Peverell?"

"Yeah?"

Dumbledore's blue eyes were blazing with something strange. A warning, maybe. Ginny got the impression that he knew a lot more about this conversation than he was letting on.

"I will not tell you that there is no chance, but be careful. I have a feeling that you have not made quite as much progress as you currently believe."

Ginny stared at him, unable to even open her mouth, let alone say anything. He was telling her to… to try to show Riddle to love, not to abandon the idea, but… he was also saying that Riddle wasn't even _close _to being ready to love, that he was still way behind what Ginny thought.

Or was he? What did Dumbledore know? How much could he see?

"I believe that Mister Black said something about meeting with Mister Malfoy. That boy has grown quite close to you. It will not do to keep him waiting."

With that Dumbledore returned to his papers.

Ginny groaned. Here he was, warning her against Riddle and throwing her to Abraxas. Apparently Dumbledore and her intelligent brain cells agreed on one thing. It was just the dumber part of her brain, and maybe even her heart, that were almost screaming in joy.

There was a chance that Riddle _could _change. A chance that even Dumbledore refused to acknowledge, but a chance all the same. If nothing else, Riddle deserved that from her.

Ginny wrinkled her nose at that.

Okay, maybe he didn't _deserve _a second chance, but she was going to give him one anyway. It'd be good for him, and Ginny had practically been waiting for a relationship with Riddle since she was eleven.

With a feeling of dread in her stomach, Ginny left Dumbledore's office. She'd go find Orion and Abraxas. Then she'd return to the Head's common room and apologize to Riddle and tell him that she might just fancy him, too.

Fancy.

Ginny grimaced a little at the particular thought. 'Fancy' was such a flimsy, teasing word. 'Love' was disgusting and ridiculous when used in conjunction with 'Tom Riddle'. 'Like' was distant and cool and not right at all.

She wanted him. That's what it was. Riddle's presence intoxicated her. His words compelled her. His touch made her throat go dry and her knees turn weak. Something about his personality, about who he was, made her want something _more_ from him.

_Yeah, _Ginny thought, snorting at how dramatic she was being. _I'll go and tell him __**that**_.

She laughed a little, but it died quickly. She was suddenly nervous as hell.

…

Ginny's heart thudded against her chest as she walked towards the Head's dorms. From her first day in 1944, the common room had felt like home, but now she wanted nothing more than to run back to Hufflepuff's basement.

She should have stayed with Orion and Abraxas. They could have done something fun and interesting that didn't set her up for extreme embarrassment and/or heartbreak.

_The same guy_, thought Ginny bitterly. _The idiot tries to steal my soul once, and now here I am, giving him another chance to do the exact same thing with my heart_.

Ginny shook her head and muttered the password. Her heart bottomed out as she stepped through the portrait hole. She felt a lot like a prisoner at Azkaban going to meet with a dementor.

It shouldn't have been surprising, Riddle sitting in his chair and reading, but Ginny still jumped a little when she saw him. A tiny part of her had been hoping that he'd permanently gotten stuck in the Floo network, or maybe decided to run off to Albania a couple years early.

"Er, hi," Ginny began awkwardly, folding in on herself a tiny bit when Riddle looked up and pinned her with a frigid stare.

"Peverell," he said coolly.

There was a moment of silence. Ginny sat down.

"We're still going to the ball together, right?"

It was the first thing that fell out of her mouth, and her cheeks flamed red with the awkwardness of the comment.

Riddle, who had already looked back down at his book, didn't bother glancing up from the pages.

"Of course."

Ginny opened her mouth to say more, to tell him that she did actually like him and that he didn't have to be acting like such a jerk about it, but she chickened out at the last moment. Things didn't feel so bad right then. Actually, it didn't seem like Riddle was going to say anything about it at all.

He was giving her a chance to take back her words and act like nothing had ever happened.

She was too worried not to take it.

So much for an intense conversation.


	43. Revelations

The days leading up to the ball trickled by impossibly slowly. Cassiopeia came back a few days after Christmas, and that largely limited the time that Ginny got to spend with Abraxas. Riddle was unbearable company, refusing to talk about anything that was personal in the least and pretty much treating Ginny exactly like he had her first few days at Hogwarts, and there really wasn't anyone else to talk to.

Quite often, out of sheer desperation, Ginny found herself sitting in Hogwarts' library with Orion Black for failure to find any other company. Orion would write or sketch pictures- he never read- while Ginny boredly paged through the pages of 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard', too frustrated to really take in what she was reading.

At one point in time, Riddle had come strolling into the library when Ginny was awkwardly spending quality time with his least-favorite Black. Orion had casually flicked his wand at Ginny's book, changing the binding before Riddle could see it.

Not like he would have anyway. Riddle had adamantly refused to so much as acknowledge Ginny's presence.

"Trouble in paradise?" Orion had asked loudly. Ginny had immediately gotten up and left.

Now, on the afternoon of the ball, Ginny was dreading having to endure an evening in the Head Boy's company. She was starting to genuinely worry that he _did _hate her, and that she'd just embarrass herself by telling him that she actually liked him.

Ginny was such an idiot. If she had just kept her stupid mouth shut, she would have actually been looking forward to the evening. Now she'd probably have to ditch Riddle for the sake of her sanity and either spend the evening with Allison and Michael Saunders- the Gryffindor she was going with- or brave Cassiopeia to hide off with Abraxas.

"Stupid Riddle," Ginny muttered as she stomped down towards Hufflepuff's common room. She had her dress draped over her shoulder, and Orion's ridiculously expensive ring tucked into a plastic bag that dangled from her fingers. Allison had gotten back earlier that morning, and she'd pretty much ordered Ginny to come down to the basement before the ball, where all of the seventh years were doing hair and makeup together. Ginny wasn't exactly someone to spend four hours getting ready for a silly dance, but she had nothing better to do, and offending Allison wasn't high on her list of priorities.

Still, it was with some trepidation that Ginny ducked into Hufflepuff basement and made her way to the seventh year girls' dorms.

The second that she knocked, Allison was standing in the doorway with a big smile on her face.

"Ginny!" she said cheerfully, wrapping the Head Girl up in a quick hug and then stepping away. "You're actually here. How was your Christmas?"

"Wonderful," Ginny said, having to work a little to make it sound sincere. "Your present was perfect, too. What about you? Did you have fun in…"

"Ireland," Allison supplied, looking rather sulky. "We usually go farther away, but I was stuck super-close with Grindelwald in control of everywhere else. Oh well, it was fun enough. Now, come on. I want to get started…"

All of the other Seventh years were already crowding around the shared bathroom, getting ready for the ball like it was a matter of life or death. Erin and Bonnie were using their wands to carefully tailor too-long dresses, and Virginia was sitting in front of a mirror, her eyes wide and mouth opened into a little 'o' as she slowly put on a thin layer of mascara.

Everyone paused momentarily to greet Ginny and ask how her Christmas went, and then it was back to preparations, this time with Ginny included. There was lighthearted chatting and laughing, exchanging of hair supplies and makeup, and a surplus of compliments centering around dresses or hairstyles.

Four hours and a lot of effort later, Ginny was in her dress, her makeup fixed up as subtly as Allison would allow, and her hair mostly up, with only a few extra strands spiraling around her face.

"Thanks, I guess," Ginny said as she moved to leave. The ball started soon. She was going to have to go up to her common room and deal with Riddle without anyone else to deflect his acidic personality, at least until they arrived at the Ball. _Then_ she'd have to actually dance with him, and hopefully not get her head bitten off. "I'll see you guys at the ball."

"Yeah," Allison said, smiling a little. "Have fun."

Then Ginny slowly left the basement, taking her sweet time as she ambled back up to the Head's common room.

Too soon, she arrived at the portrait of the little girl, who complimented Ginny cheerfully on her dress before swinging open and allowing her entrance.

Riddle wasn't in his usual spot when Ginny arrived, and Ginny's face went a little red as she tried to decide whether or not he'd actually stand her up. It wasn't like he'd be morally against it, but Ginny didn't think he'd allow his image to take a hit like that. Still, the ball started in fifteen minutes, and he wasn't anywhere in sight.

With a small huff, Ginny crossed her arms and sat down, training her eyes on the door to Riddle's room. The clock above the mantle ticked for several minutes until it landed on ten to seven. Riddle's door creaked open.

Ginny sighed in relief and stood to meet the Head Boy, then paused for a moment when she actually saw him descending the staircase. Again, he had to have scrounged up some invisible money, or probably, more likely, stole from one of his Death Eaters, because his robes were nicer than anything he could ever afford on his own. Made of dark, flowing material and embroidered with emerald green accents, they made Riddle look like the god that he was so desperate to be. His face, which was cold and perfect, just like an ancient Greek statue, only added to that impression.

The Head Boy had never looked so inhuman as he did in that moment, but he had also never looked so perfect. Ginny's breath actually caught in her throat a little as he stopped in front of her.

"I was worried you were going to ditch me," Ginny said, forcing herself to speak. Anything to keep her from gaping at him like an idiot. "You're strangely late. For you, I mean."

Riddle's eyes passed over Ginny quickly- not lingering for even a second, before they shifted away from her completely. It was painful awkward, just like things had been between them all week.

"I had other matters to attend to," he said simply. Ginny reached for his arm, but he moved away, sending her a steely glare. Completely ignoring his look, Ginny reached out, yanked on his arm as hard as she could, and wove her own through it when the Head Boy finally backed down.

"Please, don't be an arse about this. I want to have fun."

"Then you should have gotten a different date," Riddle answered coldly. Ginny wanted to say something else, like how he was the one who volunteered to take her, but thought better of it. Without another word, she and Riddle began the walk to the Great Hall, both of them struggling to look happy.

They hadn't spoken two words before they arrived at the familiar double doors. The ball had just begun, it seemed, and a few people were already dancing, while several others hovered around the refreshment tables.

Orion and Walburga were dancing, probably wearing several thousand galleons worth of jewelry and robes combined, looking exquisite and perfect. Abraxas and Cassiopeia were there, too, and Ginny couldn't help but think that they were nothing like Orion and his fiancée. Abraxas reeked of something that the other Slytherins didn't quite understand, something that Cassiopeia almost seemed to clash with, and even though they weren't fighting and probably looked more comfortable than Ginny and Riddle did together, Ginny sulkily thought that everyone would just be happier if they… switched.

Then she reminded herself that, as long as Riddle hadn't already started hating her, he'd hopefully be back to himself as long as all the misunderstandings were cleared up soon.

If she ever got the courage to say something.

"Keeping staring. He'll notice and take you back," Riddle spoke up bitterly. Ginny realized that she had been looking at Abraxas for a long time. She turned her head and glared at Riddle.

"You _do _remember that argument we had before I dumped him, right?" Ginny asked. "Where I called you a whole bunch of nice things before I hexed him? Do you really think I'd pick him over you?"

Riddle only shook his head.

"Okay, fine," Ginny said exasperatedly. She had a feeling she wasn't going to win any arguments with him that night. "Do you want to dance?"

"I suppose we should," he responded. Ginny huffed a little, but let him lead her over to the dance floor, where the dying notes of a swing piece were fading into the air.

Then, in a twist of something that was either extremely good or terribly bad luck, the band began to croon out a slow song. Riddle's eyes narrowed, but Ginny didn't hesitate before reaching up and wrapping her arms around his neck, having to extend her arms a little farther than was comfortable because of how tall he was. Riddle slowly, unwillingly, rested his hands on her lower back.

Ginny, taking a small breath for courage, moved closer to Riddle so that they were almost touching. He was warm, which once again didn't fail to surprise her. She still clearly remembered Harry's vivid descriptions of Lord Voldemort's chilling touch, and couldn't quite get her head around how much he would have had to have changed to become that sickly, snake-like person.

It was frightening, how difficult it was becoming to associate Tom Riddle with Lord Voldemort.

"Peverell," Riddle said. His voice sounded strained, and he was trying to put some distance between himself and Ginny. "I really do not think-"

"That you should be talking. You've been a jerk lately, and this is really nice, so please keep your mouth shut so I can enjoy it."

Riddle's eyes narrowed, and it looked like he was going to snap something at Ginny, but the Head Girl stomped on his foot before he got the chance, thankfully shutting him up so that she could finish the song in peace.

When they were finished, Riddle removed his hands from Ginny's back and stepped away, quickly moving off the dance floor and heading towards one of the tables that had been set around the room.

"That was just one dance," Ginny reminded him as she tagged along at his back, struggling to keep up with his long strides in her stupid heels. "It's generally expected that we do more than one dance together."

"We'll have plenty of time," Riddle responded. He picked up a glass of punch and began sipping it. Ginny pursed her lips, but plopped down in a chair next to the Head Boy and watched him drink.

"You look really nice tonight," she tried.

Riddle ignored her.

"This is where you tell me how I look." _If you even know, given that you refuse to look at me._

"You look fine, Peverell," he said coolly. Without another word, he went back to his punch and his intense observations of everyone and everything in the Great Hall, except, of course, for Ginny.

When Charlus Potter came over, laughing and smiling, and asked Ginny for a dance, she accepted his offer without a second thought. Michael left Allison to give Ginny a quick dance after that, and after Riddle had expressed his wish for her to 'enjoy herself with anyone whom she saw fit', she caught Abraxas when Cassiopeia was dancing with Cygnus and waltzed with him, then stumbled through a swing song with Orion afterwards.

After that dance was finished, Ginny walked back over to Riddle, rosy-cheeked and breathing hard. The Head Boy hadn't moved since she'd seen him the last time. He hadn't even touched his punch.

"I'm pretty much stealing everyone else's dates," Ginny told him. "Can you please dance with me _now_? We are going out, after all."

Riddle said nothing, but he must have realized that people would start wondering what was going on if they didn't do something together soon, so he stiffly held out his hand and led Ginny back onto the floor without another word.

They awkwardly worked their way through a fast dance that neither of them really knew, but when Riddle began pulling away again, Ginny refused to let go of his hand.

"One more. Please?"

"_What _are you doing?" Riddle hissed as he resigned himself to return to the dance floor. The music had slowed a little, and even though it wasn't a traditional slow dance, Ginny wanted the excuse to get closer to Riddle. Maybe then he'd get it through his thick skull that she wasn't just acting.

"We're dating," she said simply. "What's the big deal about me wanting to dance with you?"

Riddle's eyes locked with hers, _finally_, but the Head Boy looked away right away, and with a small annoyed noise, he rested his hands on her back and let Ginny have her dance. Smiling a little, Ginny linked her hands behind Riddle's neck again, leaning forward and resting her head against his chest, enjoying the sound of his slow, even breathing as it mingled with his slightly faster heartbeat.

The Head Boy refused to relax, but Ginny pretended not to notice.

Unfortunately quickly, the dance ended, and Ginny backed away, figuring that Riddle was going to skulk off to another corner. Instead, the Head Boy caught one of her wrists and held it tightly. His eyes were focused on her hand. On the ring that Orion Black had given her.

"_Him _now?"

Ginny blinked up at Riddle several times, not quite able to throw off the peace from the dance so quickly. It took her a couple seconds to realize that he was accusing her of something.

"Who?" she asked stupidly. There was no way in hell that Riddle could possibly know Orion gave her that ring, and even if he did, Orion and Walburga were more than demonstrative enough in their relationship. No one had _any _doubts as to the strength of their engagement.

"His _fiancée _was showing it off two weeks ago," Riddle hissed. "I think you know who. _What _is your problem-"

"Riddle!" Ginny complained. "He gave it to me for Christmas and it matched my dress, so I wore it. Calm down."

The Head Boy ignored her, and, stalking off the dance floor with an elaborate sweep of his robes, strode out of the room with long, angry steps. Ginny stared after him in shock for a moment before coming to her senses and realizing that he would probably never speak to her again if she let him go now.

With a low curse, Ginny kicked off her heels and ditched them in the Great Hall, sprinting barefoot as fast as she could out through the main doors, pausing as she wondered where Riddle had gone, and then rushing forward when she saw his back disappear around a corner.

Ginny had always been fast, and Riddle was obviously above something as unsophisticated as running, so she caught up to him easily, slowing to a jog when the Head Boy thankfully stopped to wait for her.

"Riddle," she panted. "Stop being an idiot!"

Riddle whirled to face her, and his eyes were burning, anger plain on every inch of his face. Ginny forced herself to believe that he _wouldn't _hurt her and plowed forward.

"I'm done with Abraxas, I've never been involved with Orion, and right now, in case you've forgotten, I am going out with you. Hufflepuffs aren't generally known for sleeping around, but apparently I'm an exception because you seem to think-"

"We aren't going out," Riddle interrupted harshly. His voice was trembling with anger and other emotions that Ginny couldn't make out. "It is _fake_._Nothing. _You aren't doing anything wrong, but I am just being…"

He trailed off, not wanting to continue, and Ginny knew that it was because his speech would entail giving away a million things that he would never reveal to anyone.

With a shaky breath, Ginny made herself interrupt, "Does it have to be fake?"

The Head Boy had already begun to say something else, but he froze at her words, his dark eyes flying to her face and staring her down so intensely that Ginny was worried they would burn right through her.

"What did you say?" he demanded hoarsely.

"That unless you hate me, which you're really, really acting like, well…"

"I do _hate _you Peverell," Riddle said with a shake of his head. "I just feel more _other _things than I should."

"Things that would constitute a relationship? I mean, if I were to agree? And if you'd actually believe that the only reason I've been spending any time at all with Orion Black was because the guy who I actually _wanted _to be with was ignoring me-"

"I _shouldn't _let myself answer that question honestly." Riddle shook his head. Ran a hand through his hair. He was growing strangely pale. "It would be grossly unfair for you, I refuse to allow you to become a weakness to me, and there is absolutely no way that you completely understand what I am, because you should not be suggesting this right now." He took a step away from Ginny. "I am a _murderer_. A liar. The worst kind of person that you could imagine."

"I know that," Ginny said, swallowing a little. "You think I haven't thought about this?"

"Peverell," he hissed. He was still backing up. Running away. "I have made _Horcruxes _to preserve my immortality. I have no _soul_."

Ginny laughed harshly; she'd known this, but of course he couldn't know that.

"I never expected you did anyway," she said. "It's not… I'm not under any delusions that you're a good person, Riddle. You're not, but it's still… there's something about you that I can't really describe, and I haven't said anything because I _know_ you're going to hurt me-"

"But you can't help it," he finished. Ginny nodded softly, unable to speak. Riddle released a low, trembling breath, and Ginny realized that he'd been arguing with himself as much as she had. He saw her as a weakness, something to be used against him. Annoying and too bright and everything he_shouldn't _want.

Riddle thought Ginny would hurt him. Ginny was certain that Riddle would do the same to her. It was disgusting and overly dramatic and everything that a relationship _shouldn't _be.

But it didn't have to be that way, Ginny reminded herself. There was a chance that Riddle _could _love, eventually, and that even if he wouldn't turn into a good person, he would finally fulfill his potential, and Ginny realized that he would still be so much more than anyone else she had ever known if he could just manage to do that.

It was a chance, an almost microscopic one, but Ginny knew in her heart that it was one worth taking.

"I can't help it," Ginny repeated.

"I can't believe this," Riddle said, laughing a little and running a hand through his hair. He shook his head and continued, "I thought I was the only one who had lost my mind. Do you have any idea how much _easier _this would have been for me if you had just kept your mouth shut? I was starting to hope that you would stay away, that if we stopped talking, I could forget about you. But now-"

Riddle broke off and locked eyes with Ginny again.

"This is _wrong_. I refuse to allow myself to be-"

Ginny knew what he was going to say. He was going to tell her that she would make him too weak, that she would distract him, take away from his goals, and there was no way that she was going to let herself hear that.

She _refused _to let Riddle shrink away from her like he did from everyone else.

Without letting him say anything else, she stepped forward, grabbed the collar of his robes, and pulled Riddle down to her face before capturing his lips with hers.

It was supposed to be a quick kiss. She was just supposed to shut him up and back away. But the second that Ginny touched her lips to Riddle's, the Head Boy abandoned whatever it was he had been going to say and grabbed onto her waist, pushing her back against a wall and kissing her back so ravenously that Ginny couldn't even _think _about the fact that she was letting Lord Voldemort snog her senseless.

It wasn't sweet or gentle, but it _was _powerful and the way that he held onto her, how he took her kiss and turned it into something that was _his_, made it so intensely Riddle that Ginny kissed him back just as strongly, tangling her hands in his soft robes and letting Riddle's eighteen years of stored up emotion _explode _right in front of her.

Then, too quickly, before Ginny could get over her shock, before she could really comprehend what had happened, it was over. Riddle moved back the smallest amount, his lips hovering only inches from hers, his cool breath dancing against her lips. His hands were still holding onto Ginny's waist tightly, possessively, but she didn't really care because she was pretty sure that she would have fallen over otherwise.

For a few moments, Riddle stayed like that, breathing hard and regarding Ginny so hungrily that it made her face go hot and her stomach bottom out.

"I think," Riddle finally said, moving back and giving Ginny unwanted space, "that I have sufficiently eliminated any chance that I had of distancing myself from you."

"So…?" Ginny managed.

"For the moment, I will allow _this"- _Riddle made a sweeping gesture that included the two of them- "to continue." Then he stepped back and the almost inhuman intensity drained from his face as he said, "Now I believe we should return to the dance before rumors of our 'violent breakup' begin to spread."

"Huh?" Ginny shook her head a moment to reorder her thoughts, then remembered that both of them had hurried rather dramatically from the room, and that Ginny's shoes were probably still abandoned on the edge of the dance floor. "Oh, yeah. I suppose."

Riddle held out his arm, and Ginny accepted it gratefully. She was still rattled from his kiss, but a strange aura of happiness had managed to settle around her, like everything was actually going to be okay.

Of course, Ginny had dealt with that 'calm before the storm' feeling enough to worry that maybe, just maybe, what she'd seen so far had only been the beginning.

**A/N-**

**Sorry that was a little late, but I kind of struggled to get the ending right. I hope you all liked it, though. I kind of want to get this up quick, especially because I've kind of been holed up in my room for a while to finish this, and my brother is starting to call me a hermit.**

**Thanks for all of your great comments, and please tell me what you think of this chapter- whether you see it as a masterpiece or a miserable fail, I always love criticism. Oh, and is there any chance we can hit 700 reviews? That would be absolutely awesome.**

**~bballgirl32~**


	44. It All Comes Falling Down

Ginny woke up around noon the day after the ball, a million images from the day before flashing through her head. Riddle in his dress robes. Riddle dancing with her. Riddle arguing with her. Ginny kissing him. Him kissing back.

_Oh, crap_, Ginny thought, burying her face in her pillow. She had decided to give him a chance, but as the reality of just what that meant closed in around her, her stomach tightened with guilt. She was supposed to be _killing _the guy, and she decided to go off and snog him instead.

Of course, if Riddle could love and Ginny could stick around and make sure he didn't turn into Lord Voldemort, killing him wouldn't be necessary. That would also mean that Ginny could never go home, and she hated to even think about that, but when killing Riddle was her only other option, an option that made her feel almost as sick as _not_ killing him, well… sticking around didn't sound half so bad.

Ginny ran a hand through her hair and sat up in bed. Tom Riddle was probably in their common room, expecting Ginny to go down there and say something to him. What was there to say, though?

Shaking her head, the Head Girl slowly got up and slid her feet into a warm pair of slippers. Something would come to her.

Slowly, Ginny shuffled to her door and opened it, cringing at the loud squeaky noise it made. Riddle would definitely know that she was coming.

Ginny took one step at a time, doing her best not to look directly at Riddle until she reached the bottom stair, then looking into the common room and letting her eyes scan all of the available places.

Her heart stopped and something like relief sunk into her gut when she realized that Riddle wasn't the only one there. The Head Boy was sitting stiffly in his chair, paging through a big black book and not looking up, while Abraxas was sprawled out across a loveseat, his eyes focused directly on Ginny.

The Head Girl blinked. She was still a little sleepy, and not quite sure if she was seeing things right. Unfortunately, they were both still there when she opened her eyes. Riddle and Abraxas. How wonderful.

"Ginevra," Riddle said, nodding at her. Ginny started a little at her first name, but didn't comment. She wasn't sure if it was because of Abraxas's presence or if he finally decided that calling his actual girlfriend 'Peverell' was kind of ridiculous. "Malfoy wishes to speak with you."

"Alright…" Ginny said slowly. She looked back at Riddle and then returned her gaze to Abraxas, taking in his tense posture and wary eyes…. a second later, it hit her. Orion _had_ said that he was going to tell Abraxas what he had managed to guess about Ginny, but Ginny had been an idiot and totally forgotten about it because she was so worried about Riddle. Now, there wasn't a doubt in her mind that Orion probably had blabbed, and Abraxas was mad…

Great.

"Uh, can we talk here?" she asked Abraxas, trying not to sound nervous. She didn't want Riddle to think that there was anything going on.

Abraxas shook his head slowly.

"I want to take a walk." Riddle started to speak up, and Abraxas turned to him, hissing, "If you would feel more _comfortable _with this if I brought Orion with, I could arrange that, too. It's your choice, Riddle, given that you don't trust your girlfriend-"

"No, no," Riddle said harshly. "It's fine. I just meant to enquire as to the nature of your conversation."

"It's a question pertaining to my upcoming wedding," Abraxas said icily.

Ginny watched as the two boys stared off, then let out a sigh of relief when Riddle finally nodded. She would have gone whether he let her or not, but now she could do so without having a very angry Head Boy waiting for her later.

"Very well, then. Go."

"Don't get used to being able to control everything I do. This is a one time thing," Ginny said, not liking the way that both Riddle and Abraxas seemed to think that it was necessary for her to answer to Riddle first. Then, ignoring Riddle's angry stare, she said, "I'll just go up and change quick, and then we can go."

"No, you're fine," Abraxas said. He wanted to have this conversation, probably before Riddle changed his mind. Ginny vaguely wondered when Orion had found time to tell him between the time that Ginny had danced with him- when he had seemed fine- and that morning. Then again, she supposed that Abraxas probably got up a lot earlier than she did. If she remembered right, he had always been a pretty big morning person. "It won't take long."

Ginny nodded and followed him out of the room. Neither of them spoke as Abraxas led Ginny through a maze of twisting corridors and passages, making an effort to not be overheard that Ginny couldn't help but appreciate.

Finally, Abraxas stopped in an abandoned classroom, placed several charms on the door, and turned to face her. His blue eyes were almost dull, as if all of his emotion had faded into disappointment.

"Orion told me something this morning. He said he hadn't wanted to worry me about it earlier, but that he figured I should know. He showed me the Peverell family tree. It died out almost two-hundred years ago." Abraxas fixed Ginny with a hard look and said slowly, "You've been lying to me."

Ginny swallowed. She didn't like the way he was looking at her- how accusing he was being. It made her feel like she had done more things wrong in her mission than just lying to Riddle- she'd lied to everyone else, too, albeit only a fraction of what she'd done to the Head Boy.

"I… haven't had much of a choice."

There was a second of dead silence where Abraxas looked to be choosing his next words as carefully as Ginny was.

Saying anything at all would be a risk, but it was a good opportunity at the same time... Then again, if she told him that she came from bad circumstances and was just trying to improve them, she knew that Abraxas would accept even that vague of an excuse. He wasn't like Mason. He didn't need to know every little detail. He trusted her more fully than anyone else in the time had done, and Ginny knew that.

"Why?" Abraxas asked. "Or… I don't even care. You're lying about your name. That's all Orion knows. But… how much else have you lied about? Tell me that. I'm trying not to get mad, but if our relationship, hell, even if our friendship, was a lie, I'm sorry, but-"

Ginny cut him off.

"I didn't lie about that. Letting myself go out with you was pretty much the dumbest thing I could have done, given my circumstances, but it wasn't a lie. Now, I'm sorry, okay? I'm in a really, really bad situation that you can't even imagine, and even though I want to tell you more, I _really_ shouldn't say anything else."

"You shouldn't. That doesn't mean you can't," Abraxas said, wanting to know more. His blue eyes hadn't left hers yet, and unlike Mason, it didn't look like he was waiting for the strategic advantage that her words would give him, but rather asking out of pure curiosity, maybe even concern.

She trusted him and genuinely saw him as a friend, but he was also different than Mason and didn't have the motivation to keep quiet, and Ginny wasn't going to put everything in jeopardy because of her big mouth. Abraxas was a Slytherin above all else, and if it was him or her, she was almost positive that it would still come down to what was better for him every single time.

"No," she said. "I can't. Just trust me, though. Maybe my last name isn't Peverell, but that's all I've been lying about… to you, anyway."

Abraxas nodded, and for a moment he appeared extremely uncomfortable, and Ginny let out a low sigh.

"I'm still a pureblood, if that's what you're wondering."

"I wasn't-" Abraxas started, but he cut himself off when he realized that she probably wouldn't believe him. Shaking his head, a now red-faced Abraxas continued, "I wouldn't have cared, anyway. I mean, maybe I might have, but…" He ran a hand through his hair, and Ginny reached out and put a hand on his arm.

"It's alright, really. I've been lying to you, so you deserve a little leeway, too."

Abraxas released a low breath.

"No, I don't. I'm still trying to make up for what I did to you before. Now I should get you back to Riddle before he comes looking for us. I swear, he is the most possessive arse-"

"I'm working on getting him to calm down," Ginny interrupted. It irked her, how she didn't like to hear people talking bad about Riddle even if he deserved it. "But I guess you're right. It'd be bad if I stayed away much longer. We're… we're okay, though, right?"

"Yeah," said Abraxas. He smiled at her, and Ginny relaxed a little bit. "We are." Ginny smiled and gave him a big hug.

"Thank you," she said sincerely. "You're one of my best friends with Mason gone, and I really didn't want you to get mad, especially because it's so hard for us to do anything together anyway, with Cassiopeia and Riddle, and-"

"Ginny," laughed Abraxas, his chest rumbling against her cheek. "It's okay. Come on, you need to go."

"Right," said Ginny. "I guess I'll see you later." She let go of Abraxas and stepped back, taking one more second to examine his controlled smile and bright eyes to make sure that he actually was okay- he looked perfectly fine- and then turned and moved to leave.

Then he stopped her with a hesitant, "Ginny?" Ginny stopped. "Can I ask one more question."

"Um. Yeah, sure," Ginny said, not bothering to turn back around. She figured it'd be something quick and easy.

"I… have an idea, but what is your actual last name?"

Ginny whirled around, having no intention of telling him. She was proud of her actual family and regretted not being able to carry around their name, but this was different. There was no way that Abraxas would stick around if he knew…

"I can't tell you," she said. "It's one of my secrets."

"The ones that you can tell me but just don't want to?" asked Abraxas. Something in his gaze had softened a little, and he continued, "I swear it won't change anything."

"You said you have an idea," said Ginny, knowing that he was lying about it not changing anything. He was a Malfoy, and no matter how different he was than Draco, they hated Weasleys. It was in their blood. "What do you think?"

Abraxas reached out and grabbed onto Ginny's wrist, holding it to keep her there. Ginny pulled at him, making a move to grab her wand, but Abraxas said, "Girls have a tendency of running from uncomfortable situations before they can hear the whole story. I'm just taking measures to prevent that."

"Uncomfortable situations?" Ginny gulped. She quit struggling. "That doesn't sound good."

"I told you already, it won't change anything, even if I'm right." He looked her right in the eye and used his free hand to pick up a strand of fiery hair. "Really, I don't think I can be wrong. Red hair. Freckles. A complete lack of any pureblood supremacy. I'm still trying to figure out where you got that necklace from, but maybe the Weasleys aren't as poor where you're from."

Ginny froze. Weasley. He'd just called her Weasley. He knew. Oh, great.

"I'm sorry," Ginny said quickly. "For making you think I was someone else, because now you probably are really mad at me, and-"

"Ginny," Abraxas interrupted. He was looking at her strangely. "I don't _care_. Well, I did when Orion first told me and said that he thought you were a Weasley, but now… it just makes sense. Alright? So don't worry about it."

"You're actually serious," Ginny realized, blinking with shock. She couldn't believe it.

"Yes, I am. Now come on. I'll walk you back to your common room."

Ginny smiled as she followed after Abraxas, a happy, fuzzy feeling bubbling up in her gut. All of her happiness from Riddle intensified even more because Abraxas actually knew some of who she was and didn't care, even though she was a poor Weasley. She'd go back to Riddle and apologize for her absence, and then probably kiss him or something else equally wonderful, and then-

"Damnit, that stupid Mud-… Muggleborn flooded the hall again."

The Head Girl almost ran straight into Abraxas's back, starting a little when she realized that there was water everywhere. He must have led her past Myrtle's bathroom in an attempt to get her away from Riddle, and Ginny hadn't even noticed.

"That means something's wrong," Ginny said quickly. Her heartbeat started to quicken with nervousness. With the basilisk still around, or at least Riddle hadn't said that it wasn't, she was suddenly very, very scared. "I don't know what, but… we need to go talk to Myrtle."

"Ginny, I don't think-" Abraxas started, but Ginny took off through the water, splashing it up all around her and soaking her slippers, but not caring one bit. Soon she was slipping and sliding into Myrtle's bathroom with Abraxas on her tail, telling her why this wasn't a good idea and that the teachers said a professor was supposed to be notified if something like this happened.

Ginny came to a stop in front of Myrtle's stall and Abraxas stopped right beside her, taking in the form of the ghost, who was hovering dejectedly in the air.

"Myrtle," Ginny panted. "What's this about? Have you seen anything? What's going on?"

Myrtle looked up quickly like she hadn't heard their ridiculously noisy entrance.

"Have I seen anything? Why would you care if I've see anything? I'm only a poor, lonely ghost-"

"Myrtle," said Ginny quickly. "Please tell me. Why are you so upset?"

"The boy," Myrtle said slowly. "I always thought he was so nice. He even smiled at me when I was still alive, but he came through here just a week or so ago with an odd looking statue… it almost looked real… and when I asked him what he was doing, he told me to 'Go back to my toilet'. Can you believe that?"

"No, no, I can't," said Ginny. It felt like her heart was going to thud out of her chest. "It was a terrible thing to say. What did that statue look like? Can you tell me?"

"It was a rather cute curly-haired boy- I remember him, too. He wasn't like the other one, though. So cold and distant when I knew him. Not polite at all."

Tears were starting to well in Ginny's eyes, but she kept telling herself that Myrtle was lying or she was misunderstanding this or _something_.

"And what did he do, after he told you to go back to your toilet?"

"He _hissed_," said Myrtle. "And the sinks opened up, and then he disappeared. He came back today to do that, too, and this time I asked what he thought he was doing, because you know he made me quite angry the last time he was through, but he was mad and just _ignored _me, and now he is in the sinks again. Do you know how it feels, to be _ignored_ just because you are dead? Well, I hope he enjoys coming back out through _toilet _water, because he deserves it-"

"Thank you, Myrtle," Ginny said quickly, hardly able to speak because it felt like she was going to be sick everywhere. This was happening too quickly. Things weren't supposed to come crashing down in just a day, where they? "I mean it. You're great."

"Ginny, what's going on?" asked Abraxas. "What was she talking about?"

Ginny sighed and shook her hair out of her face.

"Abraxas, I can't tell you _anything_. It'd mess up a whole bunch, so you've got to leave, right now, before he comes out, and… just go."

"No," Abraxas said stubbornly. "This isn't right. Something is going on-"

"I'll tell you later," Ginny said. "How about that? You leave, and I'll tell you _everything _later. Right now, I've really got to focus on this, alright?"

Abraxas clearly didn't want to listen to her, but he seemed to understand that Ginny was prepared to curse him out of that room if he didn't leave immediately, and so reluctantly he said, "You're not going to get hurt?"

"No," Ginny said, even though she didn't know. "I'll be fine."

Then he stepped forward and gave her a tight hug and trekked slowly out of the room, looking back every couple of steps like he was hoping she would allow him to stay.

She didn't. Abraxas couldn't know about Riddle, or that there was a giant snake under the school, or that she was now almost positive that Mason McCreery was not with his mother.

Ginny also knew that Tom Riddle was going to be in a world of hurt when he came out of those sinks.


	45. Masks and Lies

Ginny didn't have to wait very long for the sinks to open again. She had just sat herself down across from them, settling in for a long wait, when they began whirring out of place.

The Head Girl hurried to her feet and grabbed her wand, holding it out because she wanted to look intimidating. Not that she actually expected Riddle to be intimidated, but she wanted him to know that she was sufficiently mad, that she was going to absolutely _murder _him if her suspicions were proven correct.

The Head Boy pulled himself up into the bathrooms seconds after the sinks had cleared out. He was obviously deep in thought, his face twisted into an expression of severe displeasure. That displeasure turned briefly into surprise when he saw Ginny waiting for him, a hand on her hip and wand out, before fading into a stony mask that Ginny _hated _seeing on him.

"Ginevra," Riddle said shortly, narrowing his eyes at her in what could only be suspicion, like it was _her _who had done something wrong. "What are you doing here?"

"Myrtle flooded the halls," said Ginny slowly. She took a step forward and shifted her wand, continuing, "I stopped to see what was wrong."

Displeasure flashed through Riddle's eyes before fading away into complete emptiness. Ginny's heart was thudding against her chest and her gut was twisting with fear. She didn't know what Riddle would do if she confronted him, especially if this was somehow all a big mistake and she completely misread the situation.

"And?" asked Riddle. "What did _Myrtle _tell you?"

"She said that a boy came through here with an odd-looking statue," said Ginny sharply. "A curly-haired statue. Mason has been gone for over a week, and you _can't _like him because he 'betrayed' you or whatever, and-"

"He is _with his mother_," Riddle interrupted in a low hiss, stepping towards Ginny. The Head Girl swallowed and backed away a little, realizing once again how unnaturally _tall _Riddle was. "I need information from him, so what good would it be for me to petrify him? I would never do something so foolish."

"How do you know he's with his mother?" demanded Ginny. She was relieved that her voice wasn't shaking. No matter how much she argued with Riddle, she couldn't get rid of the sensation that she was playing with fire and in terrible danger of being burned. "When I asked Dumbledore about it, he made it sound like a secret."

"I'm observant," said Riddle simply. He let out a low stream of air from between clenched teeth and continued, "Now, if you are done _accusing _me of things that I have not done-" He tried to leave the bathroom, but Ginny stepped in front of him, cutting him off and earning herself another fierce glare.

"No. Not until you tell me what you were doing down there," she said.

"I was checking on the basilisk," explained Riddle. He didn't even blink. "That's it. Like I have been the last two months."

"And the curly-haired statue?" pressed Ginny. She _knew _he was lying even though he was so good at it that it would have been impossible to tell just by looking at him. His face was perfectly impassive, his eyes unconcerned if not a little annoyed. If anything, his expression was _too _blank.

"I. Don't. Know."

Ginny stood up straighter. She hated doing this. They were approximately fifteen hours into their relationship, and here she was, doing her best to ruin everything.

Still, Mason was her friend and it wasn't exactly right to petrify someone and then shove them down in the Chamber of Secrets as a snack for your pet basilisk. Ginny had gone against a lot to give Riddle a chance and now it seemed like he was rubbing it in her face.

"Yes you do," Ginny protested. "Just tell me." She bit her lip and continued, "I promise I won't be mad."

"You _are _mad," Riddle contradicted dryly, his eyes settling on her wand. Ginny let out a low breath, and after considering it for a moment, stashed the wand back in her pocket. It wasn't like she would beat him in any sort of duel anyway.

"There. Now you can tell me."

"I didn't do anything," Riddle said, looking straight at her, his eyes urging Ginny to believe him.

Ginny may have made a lot of stupid choices concerning Tom Riddle, but she knew better this time. Myrtle wasn't smart enough to lie, and there were no other people in the school who had any idea where the Chamber of Secrets was. It was Riddle. It had to be Riddle.

"Alright, then," said Ginny. "Point out all the other Heirs of Slytherin that attend Hogwarts and I'll go and question them about this."

Riddle looked at Ginny like he thought she was ridiculous.

"The basilisk hasn't been under _my _control, in case you have forgotten. Therefore, anything that it does it not my fault."

Ginny threw her hands up in the air in frustration. He was starting to _infuriate _her.

"Myrtle saw _you_, and you're the only one around the stupid bathroom, so-"

"Shut up," Riddle interrupted so suddenly that Ginny actually listened. The Head Girl found herself unable to speak as Riddle turned around and began saying something to the sinks in Parseltongue, speaking frantically until they began shutting.

Ginny had just begun to hear the rustling of scales climbing the hole when the sinks returned to their usual position, stopping the basilik from rushing up into the lavatory.

"What did you just-" Ginny started, her heart thudding against her chest. Had Riddle just gotten the basilisk to move towards them to prove to Ginny that it wasn't under his control, or had the thing actually tried to attack?

"I didn't do _anything_," interrupted Riddle. He was starting to get irritated and Ginny knew that if she pushed him much harder he was going to snap. She couldn't just let him go, though. That would be letting him off too easily for something that she was _sure _he had done. "Actually, I am becoming more and more certain…" He looked at her almost accusingly and Ginny thought that he was going to say _she _did it, but then he shook his head like he'd been about to say something stupid and finished, "I am becoming more certain that you need to go. You are tired and not thinking clearly."

"That's not what you were going to say," Ginny argued. Riddle stepped forward and put a hand on her arm, eyes narrowing and mouth twisting just a little bit.

"Yes," he insisted, "it was. Here, I'll walk you back to the common room."

Ginny tore her arm away.

"Not until you tell me what's going on. What happened with that basilisk just now, and where's Mason?"

Riddle shook his head.

"Mason is with his mother, and I have told you a million times, the basilisk is independent of my control. I had nothing to do with _that_."

"Okay, you had nothing to do with the basilisk," shrugged Ginny. "I guess you can't prove that. But what about Mason? If he's with his mother, then you can show me the Chamber and _prove _to me that he's not in there. Then I'll believe you."

"Ginevra," said Riddle, raking a hand through his thick hair. "The _basilisk_?"

"You went down there," argued Ginny.

"Well, it isn't happy with me right now, so I am not excessively interested in returning."

Ginny glared at him.

"That's convenient."

Riddle shook his head. His face had cleared up a little, not annoyed anymore, but rather showing something almost like anxiety. Ginny let out a low sigh as she realized that Riddle was either blessed with an otherworldly talent at lying- the likely option- or that he was actually telling the truth and Ginny had completely misunderstood what Myrtle had said earlier.

"I cannot control it like I used to," Riddle said slowly. Then, in a different tone, "I do not feel comfortable continuing this conversation so close to the Chamber, and I would appreciate it if you would acquiesce to return to our common room."

"I still don't believe you," Ginny reminded him. Riddle said nothing and waited for her response, and Ginny, still annoyed, began walking out of the bathroom without another word.

Riddle seemed to have expected this and caught up to her easily, grabbing her wrist and pulling her back to walk with him. Ginny reacted by yanking her arm away and picking up her pace, hoping to outdistance him.

The Head Boy's strides were so long that he kept up with her easily.

"I'm not lying."

"You lie about everything," Ginny returned.

"Such as?" asked Riddle evenly.

Ginny opened her mouth to reply, then slowly shut it, her pace slowing to a stop as she searched her head for something that this Riddle had lied about.

He'd told her about killing Myrtle, about his Horcruxes, about the Death Eaters and pretty much every little thing about his personality in general. Even at the Ball the night before, Riddle had been perfectly honest to Ginny in his opinion of her, not sugarcoating anything and giving her every reason he had for her to stay away from him.

Riddle had lied to her, but only briefly, and he almost always wound up telling the truth.

Ginny didn't know how he _couldn't _be lying in this situation though. Riddle was the _only _person in the school who knew about the Chamber, and even though the basilisk wasn't listening to him like it should have been, that didn't mean that it was completely disobedient.

"Maybe you don't lie to me very often, but I'm not putting it past you now."

Riddle had stopped when Ginny had, and now he was leaning back against a wall, looking at her with hard eyes.

"How about this?" asked Riddle. "Just _trust _me. You don't even have to believe that I'm telling the truth, but trust that if I am lying, it is for a relatively good reason. I'm not lying, but would it be easier for you to believe _that_?"

Voldemort lying for a good reason? Ginny almost laughed at the notion, but after a moment she realized that she could almost see Riddle keeping something from her to make her life easier. Not Tom or Voldemort, but _this _version of him. Maybe.

"Whatever reason you have isn't good enough," Ginny tried. Riddle only shook his head, and Ginny sighed.

"Okay, fine. I'll stop asking about it, but I am mad at you."

Riddle smirked amusedly.

"As frightening as I find angry Hufflepuffs…"

"This is _serious_," Ginny protested, but she found that her anger was fading away too. Riddle wasn't going to tell her, and that was that. If she wanted to figure out what was going on with Mason, she would either have to find some way to go down into the Chamber herself- not her favorite idea given that she'd had enough of that place to last a lifetime- or do something crazy and stupid like slip Riddle Veritaserum.

The second option definitely was _not _going to happen.

"I do not believe that it is," Riddle contradicted. "Myrtle was simply mistaken."

"Yeah," scoffed Ginny, forcing a smile so that Riddle would think she was going to drop it. "I'm sure _that's _it."

Riddle studied Ginny's face for a moment, and, appearing to be satisfied, fell into his usual silence as they began walking again. Ginny _almost _felt guilty for not believing him.

Then she remembered Dumbledore's words about Riddle not being quite as changed as she would have liked to think, and Ginny become more resolved than before to find some way to figure out what was _really _going on.

…

Abraxas cornered Ginny after lunch that afternoon, his blue eyes sparking with curiosity. Ginny cursed under her breath. She had totally forgotten about her promise to tell him everything, and now that she wasn't forced to speak under pressure, she regretted it completely.

He wasn't Mason. After she broke up with him, Abraxas had turned his back on her entirely and did his best to _hurt _her, and even though Ginny did like him and more or less trusted him, telling him about things he shouldn't know about was dangerous for the both of them.

"Ginny," Abraxas said, stepping in front of her as she tried to leave the Great Hall. "Are you alright?"

"Fine," said Ginny quickly. "Um, that thing earlier, it was just Myrtle getting a little upset. It's great. Really."

Abraxas didn't believe her for a second.

"I don't think-" he started, but Ginny shook her head.

"Seriously. I thought it was something else, but really some idiot had just gone in there to mess with her. That's why everything had flooded. I told Dumbledore about it, and he dried out the whole place. It's all good now." Abraxas started to speak, but before he could, Ginny tacked on as an afterthought, "Please don't ask me to tell you anything else."

The Slytherin shut his mouth and deliberated for a moment before smiling weakly.

"Don't worry," he said, his eyes strained. "You don't _have _to tell me anything. I don't think that it really matters, but you will say something if you need help, won't you?"

Ginny nodded, relief clouding her futures. That's why she needed a friend who wasn't all tangled up with dark arts and Grindelwald and other junk like that. They didn't see everyone's every word or action as something that was filled with significance. Abraxas probably thought that Ginny's story was something interesting, something to be curious about. He didn't automatically expect a big, world-changing secret like Mason had.

"Don't worry, I will," said Ginny. She began to walk away, but then remembered something and turned around. "Actually, I think I do need your help. You're a Slytherin- do you know any way I could sneak around without anyone knowing? I mean, like a disillusionment charm, except better?"

"I'm not sure," said Abraxas. There wasn't a trace of surprise or suspicion in his tone. People in his house probably did stuff like Ginny was suggesting all the time. "Would polyjuice potion work?"

"No," Ginny said, shaking her head. "I need to not be seen, no matter who I am."

Abraxas thought for a moment, then slowly asked, "How opposed would you be to stealing from a Gryffindor?"

It took Ginny a moment, but when she realized who he was talking about, a slow smile stretched across her face.


	46. Slytherin's Necklace

Ginny almost felt guilty as she walked up to Gryffindor tower like she still belonged there. It was strange, going back up those familiar corridors, retracing the steps that she had taken multiple times a day, every day of her first six years at Hogwarts.

Of course, she really didn't belong there anymore. That was proven in her willingness to steal from someone who trusted her.

Abraxas had told her all about Charlus Potter's special invisibility cloak. The Gryffindor apparently had quite the habit of bragging about it, and pretty much everyone, or at least everyone who cared, knew that he had it. Ginny knew that it was a big family heirloom and probably meant a _ton _to him, but she also knew that she needed it more than he did.

If Mason was down in the Chamber, Ginny was going to find out about it, no matter if Riddle would take her down there or not, and she needed that cloak to do it safely.

If it turned out that Riddle had been honest and hadn't done anything with Mason, then Ginny would apologize and she would go back to worrying about where Mason was and wondering at what had become of her mission to kill Tom Riddle. If Mason did happen to be down there, well... Ginny would figure out what to do then.

Ginny came to a stop when she approached the familiar painting of the Fat Lady in front of Gryffindor tower. It almost made her sentimental to be there again, but the fact that she was waltzing in right in the middle of supper to try to steal a Gryffindor prefect's most valuable possession did a good job of eliminating most of that sentimentality.

"Whistling weasels," Ginny said lightly, like she was supposed to be there. The Fat Lady opened her mouth to question Ginny, but then Ginny puffed her chest out a little, just like Percy always had, and showed off her 'Head Girl' badge.

"Oh, Miss Peverell. Please, take your time," the Fat Lady said trustingly, swinging open and giving Ginny the opportunity to duck inside. Ginny hesitated guiltily for just a moment before hopping through the portrait hole.

Unsurprisingly, the Gryffindor common room was empty. The entire house had a constant appetite, so the chance of anyone being around during any meal was pretty much nonexistent.

That didn't mean someone wasn't going to come back soon, though, so Ginny sped up a little, moving at a slow jog as she trotted through the clusters of chairs and past the familiar stone fireplace, trying not to notice that it was basically the same as it was fifty years in the future.

Charlus Potter was a sixth year, which made things really easy for Ginny. That's how old Harry had been when they had those couple perfect months together, when she'd swore she loved him and that they'd eventually get married, and…

Ginny shook away the thought and moved towards what had been Harry and Ron's room, reminding herself that she had Riddle now.

And that there was a pretty good chance that he'd sent his pet basilisk after one of her best friends.

_No_, Ginny told herself. _I shouldn't be trying so hard to see the worst in him. He didn't do it. There's no way that he did it. _

Ginny shook her head because she didn't quite believe herself, then started up the familiar staircase, stopping right in front of the third door on the left.

She swallowed hard and stared at it for a moment. Then, praying that there weren't any enchantments to keep out intruders- Fred and George certainly would have had some when they were in school- carefully peeled the door open.

Nothing happened and no alarms went off, so Ginny opened the door the whole way and slipped in to what looked a lot like one of her brother's rooms. There were clothes and junk everywhere, candy wrappers strewn across the floor, and most of the bed-coverings still crumpled up from the night before. Ginny vaguely wondered if the house elves had simply decided to give up on the place.

Wading through the refuse usually found in teenage boys' rooms, Ginny made her way past each bed as she studied the surroundings around each one carefully, trying to figure out which one might be Charlus Potter's. The first one wasn't his- there were pictures of football players around it, so it was probably a Muggleborn's. The next one took her a little while to figure out, but eventually she found Steven Brown's name scrawled across the tag on his suitcase. Still not Charlus's.

It'd been a while now, and depending on how fast the sixth years ate, they'd probably be filtering back towards the common room really soon. That wouldn't be a problem if they just stayed there, but if any of the boys came up to the room, Ginny would be in really big trouble.

Swallowing slightly, Ginny moved on to the next bed. It only took her a moment to catch a glimpse of a familiar hand-made Weasley sweater and realize that it must have belonged to Septimus Weasley. Ginny's throat closed up a little bit and she let out a low sigh. Great. She was traipsing through her grandfather's room now, too, trying to steal from one of his best friends.

_Yeah, for one of my best friends, _Ginny thought fiercely. She reminded herself once again that Charlus probably only used the cloak to prank people and sneak out to Hogsmeade, then continued forward, letting out a sigh of relief when she peeked in the trunk at the foot of the next bed and saw the name she had been looking for scrawled across the inside.

That's when Ginny heard the portrait creak open. She tore the first layer of clothing out of the trunk, praying that it was near the top. The entire thing was filthy, filled with dirty clothes and old quills and half-used jars of ink. It was more like a trash bin than a trunk, and after a moment of searching, Ginny realized that there was no way Charlus would stash his cloak in there.

Ginny hurriedly moved on without putting any of the other junk back. The voices were getting closer. That would be her luck, that the first people back would want to go where she desperately needed them not to.

Quickly, clumsily, Ginny switched her attention to the bureau near Charlus's bed, hurriedly pulling out the top two drawers and rifling through them. It was strangely reminiscent of her first year when she'd been searching Harry's things to get Tom's diary back. Back then it had been because she'd been so embarrassed by the things that she'd written. Like the worst thing Tom could do was tell Harry about her crush on him.

Ginny let out a low, dry laugh and moved on to the third drawer. The voices were only a few feet away now, and she was half ready to draw her wand and fire a quick stunning hex when her fingers closed around a familiar sheet of watery fabric. The door opened, but Ginny didn't even turn around, pulling the cloak around her just as the door banged back against the wall.

"Did you see that?" a familiar voice asked. Ginny recognized it as Charlus from his input at the prefect meetings. "Red hair? Oi, Septimus. If you wanted my cloak, you could've just asked."

Ginny turned slowly, knowing that she needed to at least see what Charlus and whoever else was doing. Her heart was thudding against her ribcage. They'd figure out it wasn't Septimus eventually, and she was the only other person in the school with Weasley hair, at least the only one she could think of. Charlus was smart enough to be a prefect. He'd figure it out sooner than later.

"I don't think it's him," said the other voice slowly. When Ginny had managed to turn around completely without making any extra noise, she noticed that it was Steven Brown, Lavender's grandfather. He was starting to creep in the direction of Charlus's bed, too close for comfort, and Ginny was forced to back up slowly and carefully, out of his reach. "Look, they had to look for it," he continued, pointing towards the mess Ginny had left. "Whoever it was knew that it was in here somewhere, but didn't know where. I saw the hair too, though. Who else has red hair like that?"

"Ginny does," said Charlus slowly, "but I don't think she'd take it. She's a Hufflepuff, and Head Girl. There's no one _less _likely."

Ginny had to resist the urge to let out a relieved breath.

"But what if one of her boyfriends wanted it?" asked Steven. He shrugged. "She's gone out with two Slytherins so far this year and I think she's friends with most of the Black family. I heard that she might have even been seeing Orion in secret at one point."

Apparently the gossip-gene ran back quite a ways in Lavender's family. Somehow, that wasn't surprising in the least.

"Riddle wouldn't," said Charlus easily. "I don't think he's ever done anything wrong in his life. He's the biggest teacher's pet I've ever seen. Malfoy, maybe, but he's more the type to just ask for it. He's too proud to lower himself to something as lowly as stealing unless he'd need to keep whatever he's using it for a secret." He let out a frustrated breath. "I don't suppose you're still here?" he asked the room in general. "Or that you'd listen if I told you to give it back?"

Ginny didn't move, didn't answer. Charlus cursed and punched the bed in frustration. It looked like he had more to say, like Steven was going to say more as well, but Ginny wasn't so interested in listening to them. She had the cloak, and that was the main thing.

Trying not to feel too guilty about it, she quietly ducked out of the room and past the influx of people who were returning to Gryffindor tower after their evening meal.

Ginny waited until she was in a secret passage, then shed the cloak and shoved it into her bag. Riddle would be wondering where she was, and she'd need to make sure not to disappear for any suspicious amounts of time, not when he was watching.

She'd continue pretending that she believed a hundred percent of what he was saying, and then, later that night, would sneak out when he was finally asleep.

…

The first thing that Ginny noticed when she climbed into the Head's common room was that Riddle wasn't reading. He was sitting in his usual place, with his usual rigid posture, but there was no book in his lap, no homework anywhere near him, nothing.

He was just sitting. Waiting.

For a moment Ginny _swore _that he knew what she was up to, but usually anger was the one emotion that he couldn't quite hide, and he didn't seem angry. He seemed more… curious, maybe? Like he was watching for something.

Ginny didn't know, so she hesitated in front of him, not sure if she should say something or go back up to her room, uncertain whether or not he would forgive her for her accusations so quickly, or if he was still mad and expected her to be angry as well.

"I'm sorry," Ginny finally said, figuring that apologizing was probably a pretty good start. It wasn't exactly honest- she wasn't sorry, and she still didn't know whether or not she should believe him, but it was the only thing she could think of to do, especially if she wanted him to lay off her long enough so that she could sneak out without making him suspicious at all. "I mean, we're going out now, so I figure that I should probably trust you more than I did. So I apologize for that, really."

Riddle didn't say anything at first, but after a moment he got to his feet and walked over to her, settling a hand on one of her cheeks. Ginny instinctively leaned into his touch, but for some reason his eye contact was making her uncomfortable. She didn't think that he knew legilimency yet (_Merlin, he better not)_, but it still made her nervous to look him right in the eye after so blatantly lying to him.

"You have a reason to mistrust me," said Riddle smoothly, still not looking away from Ginny, still not saying anything. "And I am beginning to wonder whether or not I have the same to say about you." In a motion too fluid and sudden for Ginny to predict, he moved his hand from her face and down to around her neck, where the necklace was.

Ginny suddenly felt very, very cold. She hadn't told Abraxas anything and Mason was gone, somewhere far away probably, hopefully, so what was he doing grabbing her necklace? He couldn't know what it meant. Not really. Sure, everyone had seen it at some time or another, even Riddle, but…

"Do you know what this is?" asked Riddle slowly, his voice very, very strange. Ginny swallowed hard. This wasn't supposed to be happening. He was supposed to have accepted her apology and let her go off to her room, where she'd wait patiently for him to fall asleep before going off after the basilisk.

Now, instead, she was standing right in front of him with his hands around the necklace that had started all this. A necklace that was apparently extraordinarily powerful.

"Yes," lied Ginny easily. "It's a family heirloom. My mother's, actually. I inherited it after she was killed."

One of Riddle's long fingers stroked the surface of the gem with a tenderness that made it unmistakable to see that he understood exactly what it could do. Probably more so than even Ginny did.

"Did you?" asked Riddle. He tilted his head slightly, but still did not seem angry like he would have been if he had figured out that Ginny was trying to kill him. Maybe he knew what the necklace did. That didn't mean he'd know anything else, that he'd connect any of the major dots. Right? If he knew about the necklace, that'd be fine. Dumbledore hadn't said anything about it being specifically for time-travel, just that there was a lot of power in it. "When I stumbled across it in a book recently, I read that it had been missing for thousands of years. Since it was buried with Salazar Slytherin's wife."

Ginny felt her stomach bottom out.

Slytherin's wife?

She looked down at the gem, held loosely in Riddle's hand, and almost berated herself for being such an idiot. A powerful wizarding artifact that was unnecessarily gaudy and made out of an emerald? Of course it was a Slytherin's.

"Oh," said Ginny. "I didn't know that. Are you sure it's not just another big emerald?"

"The Stone of Eons," Riddle said lowly. "It would be hard to be mistaken about something so rare. Something so powerful." He stroked the gemstone again, his eyes boring into it like they usually did to Ginny. Finally, he stepped back and let it go. "I do not believe that Slytherin's bloodline intersects with the Peverell's at any point in time-"

"Good Merlin that would be just a little creepy," Ginny couldn't help but blurt, which got an almost smirk out of a strangely serious Riddle.

"However," continued Riddle, choosing not to dignify Ginny's comment with a response, "that would mean that it fell into your family by some other means. I am assuming that whoever found it was ignorant of its power, otherwise I believe you would have learnt about it."

Ginny almost wanted to sink to the floor in relief at his last sentence. It seemed perfectly honest. He really didn't know that she had known what it was all along, minus the Slytherin part, and really wasn't suspicious. He had probably just stumbled across the necklace in his reading somewhere, had most likely simply been curious and maybe a little suspicious as to why Ginny had it, but she'd cleared all that up, and now everything would be fine.

He didn't know. Riddle was still clueless.

The knowledge almost made Ginny's knees go weak with relief.

"Power?" asked Ginny, because it was a question that anyone would ask.

She expected Riddle to say something about a lot of extra magic being trapped in the stone. That's what Dumbledore had more or less implied.

Instead, he said, "Salazar Slytherin supposedly infused part of himself into that necklace."

Ginny froze immediately. She found herself unable to speak for a good amount of time.

"So it's like a Horcrux?" she finally asked, the words hardly able to drop from her lips. "Like what you made?"

Riddle shook his head, seeming somewhat amused by her conclusion. Ginny couldn't figure out for the life of her what was so amusing about it.

"No, not a piece of his soul," said Riddle, his eyes willing her to understand what he was attempting to explain. Again, there was no anger. Just that look like he wanted to know something he didn't, or maybe like he'd almost figured out a problem but hadn't solved it completely. "More like his… magical signature, an… essence of his persona. From what I have gathered on the stone since I first discovered its existence, some say that he infused some of his own blood into it to increase its power."

Ginny stared at him, not sure what was so important about this, but feeling like it was something big, something that she should be getting, understanding.

"You don't know, do you?" asked Riddle, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"No," Ginny answered weakly. "Obviously I don't. I come in here and you start molesting my necklace and say you don't trust me. Of course I've got no idea what's going on."

"His _blood_, Ginevra," said Riddle intensely. He was leaning closer, as if that would help her understand. His cool breath tickled her face, and Ginny almost wanted to kiss him no matter how inappropriate that would have been at that moment. He was so close, and his low voice had always been mesmerizing. Ginny had to shake her head to clear it, to grasp what he was saying. "Isn't it obvious? A necklace with untold magical power that is fueled by Salazar Slytherin's essence infused into every _milimeter _of it."

Untold power. Slytherin's essence.

Ginny blinked several times, half lost with Riddle's proximity, but then she understood.

The basilisk. It followed the Heir of Slytherin, but if she was walking around wearing a necklace that contained a piece of Salazar Slytherin, that reeked of his magic and maybe even contained some of his own blood, then, well…

"You're saying I'm controlling the basilisk," Ginny accused. "But that's impossible. I didn't even _know _that this had been Slytherin's wife's necklace until just now, so how-"

"Wearing a necklace like that is like playing with fire," Riddle interrupted harshly. "The power in it… is not to be controlled. I've no doubt that you are subconsciously manipulating that power based on your personal feelings. Without realizing it, you have been asking the basilisk to attack, and it has stayed active, awaiting your orders."

"When it first appeared…" Ginny began slowly.

"You were angry with Malfoy. We were arguing the first time that it made its actual appearance, but when you began wishing it away-"

"It left," finished Ginny in a low whisper. "Oh my god. It's been my fault this whole time."

** A/N- **

** Thanks for all the encouraging reviews. I really, really appreciate them. For some reason, I don't know about this chapter. The ending seems kind of… off, but I needed it in there before everything else can happen, so I hope it's not too bad and that the explanations aren't really forced. I tried to set it up, so I'd like to hear if you guys think I did an okay job. **

** Any other comments would be great too. I promise that there'll be more Ginny/Riddle action soon, so don't get too discouraged on that account. **

** Please keep up with all the great reviews, and I'll hopefully update again by next Sunday. **

** ~bballgirl32~**


	47. Riddle's Ring

Ginny Weasley wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. She was such an _idiot_. _Twice! _She'd controlled a giant monster snake two bloody times and hadn't even realized it! How stupid could she be?

The first time Hermione had almost died, and now she'd been so close to killing Riddle, and she might have actually killed Mason. The knowledge made her sick.

Why hadn't Dumbledore told her about this? Had he even known? What in the hell was wrong with him, giving her a Slytherin artifact without telling her to keep it hidden? What if Riddle had figured out what it was _before _he had begun to actually like her?

Riddle was still watching Ginny carefully, wary of her reaction, so Ginny kept herself from freaking out quite like she wanted to. She tried to take a deep breath, but it turned into a sobbing gasp. Again. She'd done it again. Mason was probably dead, and _Merlin, _if it was her fault-

But no. Ginny hadn't been mad at Mason, had she? He'd given her the book. After that, she'd forgiven him, but…

Ginny felt like hitting herself.

"Mason," Ginny finally said. "I was mad at him because he, well… he didn't like that I liked you so much, but he left me a note that made me forgive him, but that was _right _before he disappeared…" Riddle didn't say anything and Ginny took another gasping breath. "Riddle, where is he? Please tell me where he is. If he's dead, I'll… I'll…"

Riddle put two strong hands on each of Ginny's shoulders and looked her directly in the eye.

"He is not dead, Ginevra. I have told you a hundred times, Mason McCreery is with his mother."

His eyes were perfectly honest, but Ginny still couldn't bring herself to believe him.

"No, he's not," Ginny argued. "You're lying, and if you don't tell me the truth right now, I'm going to go check for myself."

Riddle looked like he'd been slapped.

"_No_," he said immediately, his voice pure venom. "You do not know how to control the basilisk, and if you go down there alone, I have no doubt that _something _will happen-"

"I _have _to check," Ginny protested. Her voice was terribly whiney but she wasn't in control of herself enough to take the emotion out of it. She still felt ill about the basilisk thing. Merlin, she was lucky Abraxas or Riddle hadn't been hurt, how often they infuriated her. "Please. If I hurt or killed him, I don't know if I could _live _with that." Riddle stlil looked completely against the idea, and Ginny tried, "How about this? You can take me. If I'm not mad at you, it won't go after either of us, and-"

"I refuse," Riddle said again, becoming more adamant.

"Fine. Then I'll go without you."

She backed away from Riddle and threw open her backpack, blinking back frustrated tears as she yanked out Charlus's invisibility cloak. Riddle lunged for it with impressive speed, obviously already knowing what it was, but Ginny was too quick and ducked out of the way at the last second, spinning out of his reach and throwing the cloak on.

"You stole from a _Gryffindor_?" asked Riddle in disbelief. "Why can't you just _trust _me?"

Ginny felt guilty, but she shook it off. She didn't trust Riddle because there was no way Mason was with his mother. Not with what Myrtle said, and not with how shitty her luck was. Mason wouldn't have bothered leaving Dumbledore a letter if he'd had to leave, and he _definitely _would have mentioned it to Ginny in the note he left with her book.

Ginny was _sure _of it.

"Because you're lying," Ginny said, moving as she spoke so that Riddle wouldn't be able to pinpoint where she was if he got it in her mind to send a curse at her.

Riddle didn't say anything for a long time. Ginny wondered if he didn't think she hadn't already left, so she began heading towards the door, nervously making her steps slower in the hope that he would stop her. She didn't want to go down to the Chamber alone, even if she was in control of the basilisk. She was even more anxious because she didn't know what Riddle's reaction to her blatant disregard of him would be, especially on the extremely off chance that Mason _wasn't _there.

Ginny had just stalled in front of the portrait hole when Riddle finally spoke up, his voice not any louder than normal, his eyes trained directly on the entrance to the common room. Of course he knew she was hesitating. He would have seen the portrait swing open if she'd already left.

"McCreery _is_ down there," said Riddle apathetically. Ginny turned around, her heart squeezing at his words, and swallowed hard. "He is not dead, and the basilisk will not eat him- it will not act against my orders not to harm him unless you specifically tell it otherwise."

Ginny froze and let the cloak fall around her head, still keeping it draped over her shoulders. She could feel her hands shaking uncontrollably.

"Why didn't you take him to Madam Lucas? Or tell Dumbledore? He's not going to get any better sitting around in the Chamber!"

Riddle let out a low breath between his teeth, and Ginny could already see that he was angry at her for forcing him into admitting his lie like she had. Ginny didn't care that he was mad, though. She was more angry at herself for petrifying one of her best friends _again_, for making the same stupid mistake she had her first year.

Maybe she was more suited for Riddle than she had originally thought. They were both monsters at some point, although Ginny supposed that now Riddle was even ahead of her in the humanity department. She couldn't think of him doing anything really bad since hurting Mulciber.

Well, and hiding Mason's body in the freaking Chamber of Secrets.

"Think," said Riddle harshly. "If Dippet figured out that the Chamber had been reopened, Hogwarts would be _shut down_. Maybe that isn't as big of a deal for you as it is for me. You could move in with any one of your filthy rich pureblood friends, but I would be forced to return to the orphanage because I have _no money_. I _had _to-"

"Oh, Merlin, I forgot that this happened before," Ginny said quickly, shaking her head. "Forget what I said. I'm not mad, I don't want Hogwarts to be shut down, but… what's going to happen to Mason? Is he okay? Will he die? Riddle, I never _wanted _to hurt him!"

"Ginevra," Riddle said lowly, "_this _is why I did not tell you. Calm down. I am currently in the processes of brewing mandrake draught for McCreery. When he awakens, you will simply convince him to keep his mouth shut for _your _safety, and everything will return to normal. There is nothing for you to be upset about."

Ginny didn't quite agree, but she did make an effort to calm down. Riddle was right. Mason was going to be okay. Riddle could brew the draught and everything would go back to normal. Ginny took a few deep breaths, steadying her breathing and letting her thoughts settle back down.

"I… I'm sorry," Ginny said softly. "I didn't want to, I mean…"

Riddle reached out and brushed a strand of Ginny's hair from her face, making what looked like his best attempt at a smile. It was a genuine smirk, if there was such a thing, and it was enough to get Ginny to smile weakly back at him.

Right. She had no reason to apologize to him for this. He wasn't going to freak out or be disgusted or even really care that she'd sent the basilisk after anyone. He had done the exact same thing, on purpose, and Ginny figured that was one thing Riddle had on Harry. Harry would have told Dumbledore immediately without even considering the possibility of shoving Mason off in the Chamber, and then he would have run to comfort Ginny because he'd have figured that's what she needed.

Riddle downplayed the thing as much as possible, and even then he wasn't making much of an effort to make Ginny feel better with any empty words or useless attempts at understanding. He couldn't empathize, or even really sympathize with her, because he saw nothing wrong with what she did. Any attempt he was making to calm her down was more because he figured it was what he was supposed to do, not because of any personal reaction he had to what she was feeling.

Something about that, about knowing that she wasn't being judged or pitied, helped Ginny see the situation like Riddle must have. It was simply a problem that was all but solved.

"Right," Ginny finally said. "This will all turn out okay, won't it? I mean, I feel bad, and Mason really, really didn't deserve this, but… he's not really going to be hurt or anything, right?"

"There should be no lasting effects."

Ginny let out a breath that she didn't really know she'd been holding. They'd been worrying about the basilisk for so long that it was almost ridiculous to realize how simple it had all been. All she'd need to do now was make sure she didn't get too angry at anyone, and everything would be fine.

"Good," Ginny smiled. "Great, actually. How long before your draught is finished?"

"With classes resuming tomorrow, the time will be drawn out slightly, but no longer than a week," Riddle replied. His eyes flashed to her necklace for only a moment, and then he continued, "Now, I wish to talk to you about a solution for this problem."

Ginny caught the look in his eyes and had to resist the urge to take a step back.

"I figured I could just be really careful," she said quickly. "I mean, that's fine, right? I won't get mad, and you'll tell me if I do get annoyed a bit too much."

"Ginevra," said Riddle carefully, like he knew he was treading on dangerous ground, "I really think that it would be safer if you simply gave the necklace to me. I swear not to use it, but if I were-"

"What if I just quit wearing it?" blurted Ginny. She didn't want Riddle to have the necklace. Maybe he had some way to figure out what it had been used for, maybe he'd make a Horcrux out of it. Hell, he didn't even have to actively do anything with it. If he even just had the necklace in his possession, and something happened where Ginny decided she'd need to kill him, well, she'd get stuck in 1945 even if she could bring herself to take him out.

Even worse, maybe the power in the necklace would erase all of Riddle's progress, would guide him back towards the Dark Arts. Ginny had no way of knowing how Slytherin's presence in the necklace and Riddle's heritage would react, and if it turned out that Riddle became more powerful than before and used the necklace to become a super-Voldemort or something equally terrible, well… she wouldn't be able to live with herself. Everything would repeat just like it had the first time through, except it would all be a million times worse because Ginny would have had numerous opportunities to stop it.

"I would rather like to have the time to simply... study the stone," Riddle said as an explanation. "You must realize the potential… an Heir of Slytherin equipped with one of his greatest weapons. Ginevra, I _would _be able to control its power, and I could do great things-"

"So you're saying that you can control it, but I won't be able to?" Ginny snapped. Then, taking a deep breath to calm down, she continued, "And I don't think you should have it anyway."

"Why?" asked Riddle, widening his eyes just the slightest amount. Good Merlin, he was trying to trick her, pretending to be innocent, and Ginny was half-tempted to fall for it. Maybe he had changed and he did just want to see what the necklace could do, maybe…

Ginny remembered Dumbledore's warning that Riddle hadn't changed like she thought he had, and shook her head to clear it.

"Because you lied about Mason, and even though that was to help me, I just… Knowing that you can lie so easily and so well without any regret scares me. And, well… you've gotten better, but you still aren't exactly a saint yet. Riddle, I don't…"

"Trust me?" he asked, arching a brow. His eyes were hard.

"In some things I do," Ginny said quickly. "I trust you not to hurt me, which is obvious given that I've done some pretty stupid things around you, and I trust you not to kill anyone else, not anytime soon at least, and I trust you to try to be a decent person. Really, I just… I don't trust you with power, Riddle. That's the thing. It's always been what you wanted, and now that you're so close to so much of it, I don't think that it's a good idea to really give you the chance to use it." Ginny saw the look on his face and, as an afterthought, tacked on, "Besides, it was my mother's necklace. It means a lot to me. It's not _just _because I don't trust you."

The room went silent, and Riddle turned and released a low breath.

"I would not do anything with it that you would not approve of." He looked back towards the necklace and grit his teeth, shaking his head and looking like he was about ready to curse it off of Ginny if he needed to. Ginny closed her eyes when she realized how badly he wanted the necklace, a necklace that she _needed_.

"I don't know…" Ginny said, even though she kind of did and still didn't want to give it to him.

Riddle hesitated for the barest moment, and then, looking straight at her, said, "Can I at least borrow it? See what I _could _do with it?"

"How do I know you'd give it back?" asked Ginny, not expecting him to really come up with a good answer.

Then she watched in shock as Riddle, moving slowly, as if he wasn't entirely sure that he wanted to do what he was doing, raised his left hand and closed his fingers around his ring, pulling it off with a purposeful movement and holding it out towards Ginny.

Ginny almost gaped. She felt her stomach bottom out, and for a moment she swore she was going to be sick.

"I mentioned creating Horcruxes to you previously, and you seemed to understand precisely what I was talking about. Ginevra…" He looked her straight in the eye, his gaze so intense that Ginny could barely keep up eye contact. "This is one of them. It is a piece of my _soul_." He shook his head like he was sure he was crazy, then continued, "If you allow me to see your necklace, to just see how I can manipulate its magic, how powerful it can make me… I will give you this to assure to you that I will return the Stone of Eons once I am finished with it."

Ginny felt like hyperventilating.

"No," she said, her voice coming out in just a small croak. Riddle gave her a questioning look, and Ginny squeaked, "What if… what if it's not your Horcrux? I mean, it could just be a ring-"

Riddle grabbed Ginny's hand and slipped the ring around her finger, and Ginny had to stifle the urge to shiver. She could feel_ him_ in the ring. His presence was suddenly all around her, _in _her. Like the diary her first year.

"Alright, it's your Horcrux," Ginny said quickly, "but it doesn't feel safe. There's got to be something not right about this-"

"I gave it to you willingly, and therefore the presence inside of it will not harm you," Riddle explained. "Please, trust me."

"So if I ask for the Stone back in a week and you don't give it to me, you fully realize that I can and will do everything in my power to destroy this until you return my necklace to me?" Ginny asked.

"You should have been a Slytherin," Riddle smirked, looking genuinely amused. Ginny almost rolled her eyes. At least someone found this whole thing funny. "Yes, I fully realize that you would not hesitate to at least attempt to do away with my ring. I promise you, I will return the Stone of Eons to you as soon as…"

"As soon as you see whether or not it can turn you into a god?" finished Ginny.

"To phrase it bluntly," Riddle said shamelessly. Then he held his hand out. With shaking fingers, Ginny slipped the necklace from around her neck for the first time since she had first put it on and handed it to Riddle. She knew that the trade was dangerous, but… a part of her, the part that was still into the mission, felt like getting this Horcrux was important.

Besides, Riddle wouldn't do anything too stupid with it, not when Ginny had a piece of his soul in her hands.

Right?

Merlin, she hoped not. After figuring out about Mason and the basilisk and everything else, Ginny really, honest-to-god prayed that she hadn't just made another big mistake.

Riddle put the Stone of Eons into his pocket and smirked at Ginny.

"You don't understand how important this could be to me. If I can harness the Stone's power-"

"You'll do something big and wonderful," Ginny answered, turning his Horcrux around her finger. Had it been worth it? What was she even going to do with it? She couldn't destroy it, could she? "I understand, and I really would prefer you just as you are now over anyone super-powerful, but as that is apparently not going to happen… _please _don't hurt anyone."

"Trust me," said Riddle again. Ginny sighed and shook her head a little, hating him for convincing her of this, but knowing that he would have figured out some way to get the necklace if he wanted it as badly as he appeared to.

"Not until you prove to me that you deserve it," she replied. Riddle nodded, and then both of them, seeing that the conversation was cooling down, seemed to relax a little.

Mason would be better in a week, Ginny had one of Riddle's Horcruxes, and… Riddle had a ridiculously powerful necklace that he could do with as he pleased.

Ginny prayed that he'd take her threats seriously. If not, well, she wouldn't just be letting her friends and family down. She'd be letting Riddle down too, would be destroying any chance he had at something better.

She actually cared about him enough to mind.

Without really thinking about it, Ginny stepped forward and wrapped her arms tightly around Riddle, resting her head on the surprised Head Boy's chest and taking a few moments to remind herself that he was there, that he genuinely liked her, and that he wasn't _quite _Lord Voldemort yet, no matter what he called himself.

After a moment, Riddle relaxed and rested his hands on Ginny's waist, kissing her forehead and then her lips before resting his forehead against hers.

"I swear," he breathed, "I won't hurt you, not with this."

Ginny nodded weakly even though she was still wary to believe him.

...

** A/N- **

**Yeah, a lot more talking and not much doing… however, this was more of a continuation of Ch. 46 than anything specifically on its own, and, in case you didn't notice, some important things _did _happen. Little plot pieces are stacking up, and they can't go much higher, so all of the good stuff is going to come speeding up pretty quickly. **

** Any ideas of what's going to happen or comments on what is happening, or criticisms about the plot/writing/etc. are all highly appreciated, so I would like a lot of them… maybe enough to get me to 800 reviews, if that's not too much to ask? **

** Anyhow, I'll probably post again next week. Until then, **

** ~bballgirl32~**


	48. The Three Brothers

Ginny had to get up way too early that next morning. Classes were restarting, and even though it felt like the holidays had drug on forever, she still wasn't eager to get back to any of them, not when she hadn't had any sleep the night before and Riddle's ring still practically glowed from where she had left it next to her bed.

Slowly, Ginny climbed out of bed and stared at the bothersome ring. Gryffindor's sword still rested in her dresser drawer, and there was no doubt in her mind that this was the best opportunity that she was going to get to destroy the thing. Getting Riddle to trust her like this… it was the opportunity she had been waiting for since she'd gone back in time, but now that it was here, she had no idea what to do.

Destroying it made her feel ill, but having a Horcrux in her possession and not doing _anything _with it felt just as wrong.

Still… if Ginny destroyed the Horcrux, she knew that Riddle would hate her and maybe even try to kill her. Any progress she'd made would be totally erased, and she'd have to wind up killing him anyway, which was now totally out of the question.

Ginny sighed and picked up her wand, transfiguring a quill into a thin silver chain and looping the ring through it before fastening it around her neck. The problem of what to do with the stupid thing had kept her up all night, but really she didn't even have a choice. She had decided what she was going to do about the Riddle situation, and although it made her feel insanely guilty to be so close to completing the first half of her mission but not making the move to do so, it was too late to go back on her choice to give Riddle a chance.

With that in mind, Ginny quickly washed up and tossed her hair back into a sloppy ponytail, barely bothering to look at her reflection before tiredly gathering up her books. After a moment of thought, the Head Girl transfigured the cover of 'The Tales of Beetle the Bard' into a random spell book, just like Orion had, and shoved that into her stack of other ones. She still hadn't looked through the whole thing completely, not while paying attention to what she was reading, and she figured that she should probably get going on that.

Once Ginny was satisfied that she had done everything she needed, she double-checked to make sure that Riddle's ring was still where it was supposed to be, and then tiredly descended her staircase, gloomy at the prospect of another half of a school year.

…

Ginny paged through 'The Tales of Beetle the Bard' in Care of Magical Creatures. Kettleburn had been friendly, for once, and allowed them to sit in Hagrid's hut while going over characteristics of different types of dragons. Ginny already knew everything, and Abraxas had no qualms over sitting in front of her to block her book from Kettleburn's view, so she found it pretty easy to knock off a few extra pages.

Yawning and still a little tired from getting up so early, Ginny glanced up to make sure Kettleburn wasn't looking at her, and then turned the page, ending 'The Fountain of Fair Fortune' and flipping to the start of the second-to-last story in the book, 'The Three Brothers'.

Ginny blinked once, vaguely remembering the story from her childhood, like a lot of the others in the book, but she recognized it as being one that she had never liked very much. It was boring and there weren't any princesses or amazing shows of magic. Still, she leaned back against the wall of Hagrid's hut, reclining a little bit more as she read through the first few paragraphs.

Then she caught sight of the words 'Wand that can't be beat' for the first time.

Ginny sat up a little straighter, eyes wide as saucers, as she read on, the words 'Invisibility cloak' and 'Stone that could raise the dead' burning bright in her mind.

This had to have been what Mason wanted her to read, there was nothing else that had even come close. Quickly, Ginny paged forward, taking in the last few pages of the story before closing the book and cautiously sliding it back into her backpack, thankfully not catching Kettleburn's attention.

It wasn't just a fairytale. Ginny knew that by how urgent Mason's note was, by how hard he'd been working to keep his secret, the knowledge of an indestructible wand, of a stone that could raise the dead. Ginny knew first hand that Riddle didn't care about the invisibility cloak- he knew she still had Charlus's and hadn't tried taking it from her- but the other two things would be considered beyond precious to him. What had Mason said when they'd been talking about it so long ago… what he knew wouldn't make Riddle immortal, but… but that it would make him invincible.

Somehow, Mason… no, not Mason… Grindelwald, Ginny was sure of it, had figured out that this fairytale had some kind of truth behind it, and if he was looking for these things, well, then Riddle would probably want them, too.

Ginny knew that Riddle was still searching for something more reliable than his Horcruxes- he didn't trust them to really keep him immortal, and from what Ginny heard, they were really painful to make- so he wanted something else, something to keep him from ever really 'dying' in the first place, and she was almost sure that the three things that were in the 'Three Brothers' story were almost exactly what he would be looking for, if they were real like she assumed.

Closing her eyes for a moment, Ginny thought about why Mason would tell her about this, what he would want her to do. It almost seemed like he expected the basilisk to be after him, but maybe he did. If he assumed Riddle was controlling it, and Riddle wasn't happy with him, then Ginny supposed that it wouldn't be out of the question for Mason to be fearing an attack, which would probably explain how he managed to get petrified instead of killed. It would also give him some sort of reason to give Ginny that book, although she still figured Mason had wanted her to do _something _with the information that she'd been given.

Her first thought was that Mason would have wanted her to find the things and destroy them, kind of like Harry and the Horcruxes, but Mason couldn't have expected her to do that, not if Grindelwald was looking for them and hadn't found any yet. There was something else, something that Ginny wasn't getting, and even though she didn't _think _there would be anything wrong with waiting for Mason to wake up, she wasn't so sure.

That meant that there was only one other person she could ask who apparently knew about the story, and that was Orion Black. He'd obviously been aware that there was something in the book that Riddle shouldn't have, and now that Ginny knew what it was, she hoped that he would explain at least some of it to her.

Kettleburn dismissed the class, and Ginny climbed hastily to her feet, double-checking to make sure that she still had her book, and then following Abraxas out of Hagrid's hut. She'd need to be careful about how she communicated with Orion, especially about something so important, so it wasn't like she could just go up to him before potions and request a short chat. She'd have to meet with him in private somewhere, away from any portraits or potential Death Eaters spies, and she'd have to tell him where without giving the location away to anyone else, probably not even Abraxas.

"Have you given it back yet?"

Ginny tore herself out of her thoughts and looked at Abraxas, who was watching her expectantly, like he was waiting for her to answer his question.

"Given what back?" Ginny asked stupidly.

Abraxas stared for a few moments, and Ginny knew that he wanted to ask her what she was thinking so hard about, but then he looked back ahead and said, "The cloak. You _are _going to give it back, right?"

"Oh, yeah," Ginny said hastily. She had been planning on it, but hadn't really gotten the opportunity within the last twenty-four hours or so. Besides, she'd only taken it for a little over a day. Charlus probably wouldn't have even needed it in that short time span anyway. "I was going to get around…" She trailed off, realizing that even though she no longer needed to sneak into the Chamber, there was another snake that it could help her visit. She just prayed Orion Black didn't sleep naked. "I'll do it pretty soon, don't worry. I'm not going to keep it."

"I don't know. You've always acted rather like a Slytherin around me," Abraxas said playfully. At least he was acting normal, even though his eyes were still tight. Ginny knew he hadn't gotten over being suspicious about her conversation with Myrtle in the bathrooms.

"Oh, come on, I'm a _Hufflepuff_," Ginny emphasized, working for a smile. "I just need it a little longer. Now be quiet before someone hears. I don't want to be forced into giving it back."

Abraxas rolled his eyes, but dropped the subject. He must have known that Ginny was hoping for silence, because he didn't try to introduce any other topics of conversation for the rest of the walk, leaving Ginny to continue thinking about the story she had read, trying to determine whether or not it was really as significant as Mason seemed to think.

On the one hand, Ginny did know that those three things- especially the stone and the wand- would be unrealistically dangerous in Tom Riddle's hands. On the other, Riddle didn't know about them, and, in Ginny's world, he never found out. Ginny hated to think it, but she was almost positive that Mason had died keeping that secret, that Riddle had gotten a little too angry at one point, or… or even that Mason would have been killed already, after Avery had hit him with that curse, and the truth behind the story of the Three Brothers just fizzled out with him.

But still… Mason being alive wouldn't change anything if he continued to keep his mouth shut, and Ginny sure as hell wasn't saying anything, so the danger was practically nonexistent. She hoped.

Abraxas and Ginny arrived in Slughorn's room just before potions, and Abraxas sent her a small smile before Ginny moved to take her regular seat next to Riddle. She saw his eyes flash to her hand, and when they didn't find his ring it almost looked like he was going to start panicking. His face darkened and his eyes turned to stone, and Ginny sent him a pointed glare before lifting the chain out of her shirt and showing it to him.

Riddle relaxed a little bit, and Ginny looked at him a bit more closely, checking for her necklace on him. Of course, he wasn't wearing it. It was too feminine not to raise about a million questions, and, if Ginny was being honest, it was too expensive for Riddle to have in the first place. Still, she wasn't too worried. He was obviously going to take care of it, and, if the dark circles under his eyes were any question, his attention was enraptured in the thing enough that Ginny wasn't worried about him taking too long to get done experimenting with the thing.

That is, if he didn't find anything _too _interesting about the necklace. Like it's propensity for time travel.

"You look tired," Riddle mentioned to Ginny after a moment. It almost made Ginny want to laugh, how she was worried about Riddle finding something to aid him in his quest to take over the world one second, and how she'd be marveling at how much it sounded like he really cared about her the next.

"Yeah, I'm worried about you," Ginny admitted. Riddle narrowed his eyes, and she quickly clarified, "I didn't say I was worried about what you were going to do. Just about you."

"Why?" asked Riddle.

Ginny shrugged, smiling a little.

"Because I'm worried that something you figure out with that necklace or your other research is going to wind up killing you. I don't mean physically, but…"

"Whatever else there is left of me?" Riddle asked dryly. Ginny took his hand and smiled at him.

"Well, yeah," Ginny shrugged. "If you're going to put it like that."

Slughorn started talking, then, and Riddle gave Ginny a pointed look. She sighed and freed his hand so that he could take notes, and Ginny tiredly cleared some space off her desk, ignoring Slughorn's overly cheery 'welcome backs' in favor of resting her head in her arms and drifting off to sleep. She supposed she did deserve it, given that she was going to have a late night already.

Riddle shook Ginny awake when class was done, and the Head Girl got to her feet, yawning a little bit. Orion caught her eye on the way out of the room, and it was almost like _he _knew Occulamency, because it looked a hell of a lot like he mouthed, 'About time'.

…

That evening, Ginny took every precaution she could to make sure that Riddle didn't catch her sneaking out. She especially didn't want him to find her and get the impression that she was going off to see Mason, in which case he would probably come to the conclusion that she didn't trust him at all, call her a hypocrite, and immediately terminate their relationship.

Not liking that idea at all, Ginny sat in her bed, wearing her flannel pajamas, and waiting until well past three o'clock to get up and throw the cloak over her head. Even then, she put a muffling charm on the door before leaving her room, and took extra care in padding down her staircase, looking to the common room every few seconds to make sure that Riddle wasn't still sitting there, a book in his lap, like he always seemed to be.

Thankfully, he wasn't, and Ginny was able to sneak out of the common room unnoticed. After that, she allowed herself to speed up a little, not even bothering to quiet her footsteps or watch out for patrolling prefects. Her cloak allowed her to stay completely unnoticed, and that let her dash down to the dungeons in record time.

Getting into Slytherin's common room was thankfully just as easy.

"Superiority," Ginny said once she got to the entrance of the room. It moved easily, and Ginny briefly thanked Dumbledore for forcing Dippet into making her Head Girl. If nothing else, it made sneaking around a lot easier.

The Slytherin's dungeon was empty when Ginny slipped inside. The place was dark, lit only by a dying fire, but from what she could tell all of the deep emerald sofas and chairs were abandoned, any signs of the place ever being lived-in more or less erased. It was strange, how anal most Slytherins were about having everything so neat that it hardly looked used, where most Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs that Ginny met took a kind of pride in having the deepest layer of junk around their beds.

Quietly, not feeling very welcome in the dank common room at all, Ginny crept around the chairs and tables, slowly making her way to one hallway. Unfortunately, the first sign that she read said, '1st Year Girls', so she was forced to turn around, walk back across the room, and trek to the other side. There she was the first year boys' room, and after that it just went up every year, until she finally stopped at the last one. '7th Year Boys'.

It felt wrong not to knock, especially knowing that there were a handful of creepy Death Eaters in the room, not to mention both Abraxas and Orion. That was a lot of questionable people all shoved into one place, and Ginny was wary as to what she might find behind the door.

Thankfully, when she finally worked up the courage to crack the door open, there were just seven guys sleeping, all of them looking relatively normal. As quietly as she could, Ginny tiptoed from bed to bed, looking for Orion's. His was in the corner, away from Riddle's cronies and next to Abraxas's, like he couldn't stand to even sleep next to one of them. Ginny almost shook her head at this, until she realized that sharing a room with Lestrange was dodgy enough. She wouldn't have wanted to have her eyes closed anywhere near him, either.

Orion found, Ginny walked over to his bed, stepping carefully so as not to trip over anything, and then hesitated. He didn't seem the type of guy who would wake up quietly, especially not if he couldn't see who'd woken him up in the first place. Still… Ginny supposed that she didn't have any other choice, and so, with a grimace, she reached out and shook his shoulder.

Orion jerked up instantly, his hand flying for his wand almost humorously quickly, reaching it in less than a second and then holding it up, looking for anyone standing over him.

He let out a long, low breath when he realized that it wasn't any of Riddle's Death Eaters, and then smiled lowly, saying, "What do you want, Ginny?"

Of course, he'd know that Ginny had Charlus's cloak. Abraxas told him _everything_. Or, Ginny supposed, Orion just found out. He had a way of doing things like that.

"I figured it out," she said.

"Congratulations."

"I want to _talk _about it," continued Ginny. Orion didn't reply, and she knew that he was planning on ignoring her, but then Ginny harshly whispered, "I need a reason not to tell my boyfriend."

Ginny smirked when Orion sat up instantly. Moving like a ghost, he got to his feet and, grabbing right onto her invisible arm, led her out of his dorm, then back through the common room, and into the dungeons. Ginny didn't say anything, instead just stumbling along after him and trying not to complain. It _was _early, and she supposed that she should just be thankful that he was coming, especially because she knew he wasn't in the habit of doing favors for _anyone_.

After a while, Orion came to what looked like an old storage closet, and, when he opened the door, Ginny came to realize that that was exactly what it was. She hesitated before going inside, but Orion pushed her, and Ginny stumbled in ahead of him, muttering under her breath as Orion shoved himself inside, closed and locked the door, and then lit his wand so they could see.

Ginny took her cloak off and faced Orion. His face was lit up bright by the light, and somehow, more than ever, he looked like Sirius Black. Pale, with dark eyes and that shaggy hair. It was the face of someone who Ginny didn't quite trust, per se, but was counting on all the same.

"The wand and the stone," Ginny said. "That's what you think would be dangerous for Riddle to have."

"I love," Orion laughed, completely ignoring Ginny's comment, "how you call _me _Orion, but somehow still think it's appropriate to call your boyfriend by his surname. I can feel the love there."

"He _tells _people to call him Riddle," Ginny said defensively. "Well, and I knew another Tom, and… just, never mind. Do I really need to be worried about the story?"

"I don't know," said Orion. "McCreery seemed to think so, although your last name probably has something to do with that. I know it's not in the story, so I figure I should explain. Those three brothers, they're real. The Peverells." Ginny's eyes widened a little, and Orion smirked, continuing, "I'm guessing that's why McCreery singled you out in the first place, picking you for a friend when he'd never showed any signs of wanting any since… whatever happened between him and Riddle."

"Mason knew about the…"

"The Hallows," Orion supplies, his eyes glowing. "Together their called the Deathly Hallows. And don't single out the stone and the wand, either. The cloak is the most important."

"But there are hundreds of-"

"Of traveling cloaks with disillusionment charms or short-lasting invisibility potions infused into them. There's one actual cloak, and it's around your shoulders right now. Now, please, go on."

"What?" Ginny asked, but Orion gave her a 'you heard me' look, and waved her on. Ginny didn't quite believe what he said about Charlus having one of the three things, one of the Hallows, but Orion almost always wound up being right eventually, and so she ventured to continued, "So Mason knew about the Hallows and picked me out because… he figured I may know where to find them?"

"At first. When he realized you didn't, he probably figured out that you were lying, saw you cozying up to Riddle, and got more drawn into your secret than anything about the Hallows."

"Oh," said Ginny. "But then why did he give me that book?"

"I don't know. If I were him, I would have used it as a hint to find the Hallows and kill Riddle with them, but that may just be me, looking for an excuse to off Tom Riddle."

Ginny closed her eyes and let out a low breath.

"I'm not going to find them and put them all in one tempting place for _anybody_, and I am definitely not using them against Riddle. I'm hoping that, eventually, he'll have changed so much that I won't have to worry about him finding out about the Hallows anyway."

Orion barked out a laugh, and Ginny clenched her teeth, _hating _that no one believed Riddle could be a good person. Though, Ginny supposed that she was the one sneaking about in the wee hours of the morning trying to figure out ways to keep him away from dangerous toys. Orion wasn't the only skeptical one.

"Go for it. Seriously. Just make sure to warn me before he figures out… whatever it is that you're actually _supposed _to be doing. I'll be sure to steer clear of the explosion."

"He won't find out," Ginny said. He _couldn't_. Then she found that she had run out of things to say, and muttered, "Thanks for the help, by the way. I appreciate it."

Orion shrugged, and both sensing that the conversation had come to a close, they slipped out of the closet, taking different paths back to their respective common rooms.

Ginny didn't know how much that conversation taught her, but it did cement her theory on the story of the Three Brothers, while also giving her several million other things to worry about.

**A/N- **

** My school's graduation was yesterday, so I had to push this back just a tidge. It's not too late, though, and it's the longest chapter I've written for this in a long time, so I hope that makes up for the day's delay. **

** Oh, and I finally got up to 800 reviews! That's awesome guys, and way more than I ever would have expected, so thanks a ton. Please, please, please keep it up. **

** Lastly, I've gotten a few reviews mentioning that the time-frame is kind of getting distorted, and I've noticed that, too, especially because the Christmas holidays kind of seemed to stretch on forever because of everything that happened. I'm thinking that this will be helped a little bit when I finish the story, because then I'm going to go back and combine all the short, half-chapters that I posted early so I could get updates out. That should cut down on the number of random chapters **_**then, **_**and for my readers now who really don't care, this chapter should kind of get everything back into some perspective, I hope. **

** And that's everything. Review, even if it's just a little two-second one (although the huge, really nice ones make me smile extra big), and tune in next week for more. **

** Adios, **

** ~bballgirl32~**

**P.S.- It's like, midnight, and I didn't get this proofread yet, so I hope it wasn't too bad. I'll go back through and check things over tomorrow evening sometime, if it does wind up being terrible and you want to go through and reread it then. Just saying. **


	49. Precious

Ginny yawned over her Transfiguration homework. Normally she'd have gotten it done instantly- all she had to do was conjure a stupid parrot- but she was absolutely exhausted. Getting up at three in the morning to interrogate Orion Black probably wasn't her smartest move ever, especially because her conversation with him hadn't really illuminated anything at all.

It felt like Ginny was _supposed _to be doing something- Merlin, she'd received enough enormous revelations in the past few days to last a lifetime- but she didn't know what, exactly, she should do. As Orion had said, the only real thing she could do about the Hallows was find and destroy them, and given that she wasn't going to destroy Charlus's cloak and she had no idea where any of the other ones were at, she wasn't too keen on that option.

The Horcrux provided her another opportunity to take action, but once again Ginny really couldn't do anything with it. Even if she still had any desire in the least to harm Riddle, destroying the ring would be completely useless. He'd be too pissed at her to show her where the diary was, and on the off chance that she could find _that_ on her own, Riddle had her necklace, meaning that Ginny would be trapped in 1945 even if she did completely kill Riddle.

Not that she had any current plans of offing the Head Boy, but it was kind of annoying that nothing would change even if she did.

Yawning again, Ginny stabbed her wand in midair and managed to conjure up a canary. Not a parrot. Ginny banished the stupid bird in frustration and set her wand down for a moment, too restless to try again.

Maybe Mason would explain things when he woke up, if he trusted Ginny at all if she told him that it was her fault he was petrified in the first place. Of course, she could let Riddle take the blame, but then Mason would be even angrier with her for continuing to ignore her mission despite the Head Boy's 'involvement' in his petrification.

Still, Ginny couldn't help but bank on getting at least _some _information from Mason when he woke up. Four more days, she figured, and Riddle would have his potion done and Mason would be good to answer any questions she had, to help clear up a tiny bit of her confusion. There was so much that it felt like she had found out that she wasn't sure what to do with all of the information, didn't know if she should do _anything, _and, if nothing else, Mason would help her with that.

Glancing at the clock, like that would help Riddle finish his potion faster, Ginny fidgeted restlessly, then got to her feet. She'd be able to conjure the parrot just fine for her exam tomorrow, or at least she figured she would, and practicing when she was so distracted and exhausted was a complete waste of time. Absentmindedly, she shoved her book into her bag and began heading to her room for a short nap. She was about halfway up her staircase when the portrait swung open. Ginny stopped and turned around, unsurprised to see Riddle stride into the common room.

Ginny smiled a little just at the Head Boy's presence. It was becoming a thing for her, that, despite not trusting him and keeping secrets from him and knowing that he'd hid Mason in the Chamber for weeks without telling her, being near Riddle still made her strangely happy. Like, despite being the cause of most of her problems, he was also going to make everything okay in the end.

"Hey, Riddle," Ginny said. She ditched her bag on the step she'd been standing on and started back down to the common room, planning on sitting with him for at least a little bit.

Before she could go any further, Riddle said, "I'm not planning on staying here long. Go ahead and return to your room if you wish. I simply need to grab a few things."

"And then…?" asked Ginny curiously.

"I am going to add several ingredients to McCreery's draught," said Riddle. He turned away from Ginny to continue on up to his room, but stopped to face the Head Girl after only a few steps. "Although, if you would not be averse to accompanying me to the Chamber, I suppose I could allow you to come. It shouldn't do any harm now that I don't have any reason to hide McCreery's presence from you."

Ginny's head jerked up a little at Riddle's invitation.

"The Chamber?" she asked.

"Yes," Riddle smirked. "The one that we have been discussing for some weeks now. The place you were so keen on sneaking into only three days ago."

"Riiiiiggght," Ginny said, trying to sound like it was no big deal. "I knew what you were talking about. I just figured… I figured that you wouldn't let me go down there, since you were so against it before."

"Before I knew the basilisk's reason for disobeying me. Now that misunderstandings have been cleared up, I am confident that it will not harm you." Riddle's eyes turned challenging. "Unless, of course, you do not wish to go. That would be perfectly acceptable to me as well."

Ginny glared at him because she _didn't _want to go. Sure, some time with Riddle would be nice, but he wasn't exactly a scintillating enough conversationalist to make a trip down to her least favorite place in the world worthwhile.

Still, he was practically daring her to come with him, and even though Ginny was tired and absolutely _hated _even the thought of the Chamber of Secrets, something in Riddle's eyes made her almost certain that he would protect her, that she'd be perfectly safe with him.

Safe with Lord Voldemort. How ironic.

"Alright," Ginny said after a second. She swallowed a little and finished descending her staircase. "I guess I can come with you, keep you some company or… whatever. You won't let the basilisk do anything to me?"

Riddle shook his head like the notion was too far-fetched to even acknowledge, and then headed up to his room without another word, his face adorned with a smirk like he was actually glad that Ginny accepted his invitation.

Ginny fidgeted near the portrait hole as she waited for him to return, wondering what she was doing, _willingly _going to down to the Chamber with the Heir of Slytherin himself. A Heir of Slytherin who would really not be very happy with her at all if he had any idea how much she was hiding from him.

It wasn't very long before Riddle returned from his room, an old, faded bag slung over his shoulder. He nodded at Ginny, silently telling her to follow him, and then left the room with Ginny on his heels.

"So," said Ginny as they walked, "That potion is still going to be done in just a few days, right?"

"It should be," responded Riddle. "I suppose that it is good for you to come to the Chamber with me now, because I am planning on sending you there alone when it is time for the potion to be administered to McCreery."

"Huh?" Ginny asked, surprised at this. "I don't really think that's the best idea. Or the safest."

Riddle shrugged.

"McCreery is more volatile than you like to think, and I am sure he would not react kindly to waking in the Chamber only to find _me _standing over him. As much as I respect him as a wizard, he has explosive instincts ingrained too deeply into his brain for practicality, and I do not wish for him to attack me instinctively upon waking up. Things would play out a lot more smoothly if you were to explain the situation and talk him down. There is less potential for injury that way."

Ginny shivered at little at the way Riddle said 'potential for injury'. It was clear that he didn't think he would be the one getting hurt, and Ginny had no doubt in her mind that Mason would find himself sent back into unconsciousness pretty quickly if he woke up and went after Riddle right away.

"You know what?" she asked. "I think you've got a good point. Besides, then I'll have time to explain things to him, that it was my fault instead of yours. As much as I'd like to clear myself of blame for this, I really don't want to lie, and I think that dodging the truth would pretty much be like blaming you, at least in Mason's eyes."

Riddle tilted his head a Ginny for a bit, like he wasn't quite sure how to take her words, and then asked, "So you are going to tellhim that you petrified him?"

"Yeah, I suppose so. I mean, I don't think he'll doubt that it was accidental, and if I'm really nice about it, I'm sure that everything will turn out well enough. Why? Don't you think I should?"

"No, I was going to suggest that you do tell him the truth, as it would cause too much trouble otherwise. That you're so accepting of the idea, however, surprises me. You have no qualms about allowing him to know that you were the one who harmed him?"

"Eh, if he's really my friend, he'll realize that it was an accident and not be too upset, and if he does get mad, well, that's his problem. It really _wasn't _my fault," said Ginny. Curious, then, she asked, "What would you do? I mean, if I accidently petrified you and then told you all about it when I woke you up?"

Riddle didn't say anything at first, but Ginny had long gotten her worrying about whether or not he'd heard her; Riddle just liked to analyze his response to every question, to make sure that it was perfect, so Ginny continued walking on without saying anything, waiting for him to formulate an answer.

They were almost to the second-floor lavatories when Riddle finally said, "I would be angry, but… I suppose that I know you well enough to realize _you _would never purposely attempt to harm me."

"So you wouldn't hurt me?" asked Ginny, swallowing just a little at his comment. She wasn't really guilty, not knowing that _now _she wasn't going to try hurting him, but just the knowledge that she had been ready to _kill _him only a few months ago tugged on her consciousness, just a tiny bit.

Riddle didn't fully trust her- that was evidenced in that he gave her his ring as a bartering tool when he was fully aware that, under normal circumstances, Ginny woudln't have been able to even put a dent on the thing- but that he didn't even think it possible for her to physically hurt him did cause her grin to falter, even if it was for just a second.

"Of course not," Riddle said. He looked down at Ginny with a smile in his eyes and said, "I suppose that I would be angry for a while, but eventually I would be forced to accept that my girlfriend _is _a Hufflepuff and move on."

Ginny elbowed Riddle in the ribs, but laughed a little at his words. She was actually happy that he seemed to be telling the truth, that he _wouldn't _hurt her in a situation where he'd no doubt kill almost anyone else for their foolishness. It was nice to hear.

"Funny," Ginny muttered, even though she was smiling.

It was strange, how being in Lord Voldemort's presence put her in a good mood. How, despite everything, all of the secrets and whatnot, that she still felt so _comfortable _with the one person she should have hated more than anything.

A second later, the two of them reached the lavatories. Myrtle was nowhere to be seen, so it was relatively quiet as the two Heads trekked across the bathroom and over to the sinks.

Riddle glanced in Ginny's direction once, then hissed something to the sinks. Ginny unthinkingly grabbed onto his wrist as they opened.

"It won't hurt you," Riddle reminded her, but Ginny still didn't let go. She hadn't been here since she'd let herself in her first year, and even though Riddle was on her side this time, she still wasn't eager to return.

_It's no big deal, _Ginny thought with a low breath. Even though Riddle no doubt would have let her turn back if she wanted to, Ginny stepped forward to the hole in the ground and stepped in, closing her eyes as the air whipped past her face. It wasn't a second later when she came sliding out across the dusty ground. Riddle followed a second later, somehow managing to land with perfect dignity while Ginny was still sprawled out on her bum.

Riddle smirked, but didn't say a word as he reached a hand out to help Ginny up. Ginny didn't let go even when she was on her feet, and stuck close to Riddle as they followed the winding pathways, sinking into his side when they stepped around the skeletons.

"I swear," Riddle breathed when Ginny practically strangled his hand at the sight of a rat skeleton. "You don't blink when I talk about murder and Horcruxes, you look Mulciber in the eye without a _hint _of disgust, and yet you react like this to the sight of animal skeletons. Normally I am loathe to admit not understanding something, but I am coming to believe that even _you _don't fully comprehend what goes on inside your head."

"Oh, I do," Ginny assured him, struggling for a smile as something hard crunched under her shoe. "I just act as confusingly as I do because I like seeing how much it infuriates you."

"Of course," muttered Riddle. "_That's _it."

The two continued walking forward in silence, all the way up until they reached the entrance to the Chamber. Ginny swallowed, but Riddle didn't even blink as he hissed something else to the giant snakes, then stepped back a little to watch as they slithered back, the doors pulling slowly back to reveal the wide expanse of the Chamber.

Ginny's heart skipped a beat as Riddle led her forward smoothly, not seeming to notice her hesitation in the least. The place looked exactly as it had when she'd been down there her first year, save for the absence of Harry and the dead basilisk. At first, she instinctively wanted to leave, but after taking a few steps without seeing the basilisk, Ginny calmed down enough to realize that the Chamber was actually kind of beautiful.

Well, Ginny supposed, taking in the statue of Slytherin and the rows of giant snake heads. The room was beautiful in a very, very creepy, Slytherin-centric way.

Magnificent. That was a better word for it. Power rang out from every fiber of the room, and Ginny could actually feel the piece of soul in Riddle's ring expand and strengthen as she moved forward, growing stronger just by being in such close proximity to a place that held so much magic.

Ginny wanted to hit herself for liking the way that it felt, having a part of Riddle so close to her. It was _exactly _the same type of comfort that she'd gotten from his stupid diary her first year. If anything, it should have disgusted her, that his presence in that ring came from the _murder _of his father, that it was a piece of Riddle at his absolute worst. It didn't. Not in the least, and Ginny didn't even want to consider what that meant.

"Welcome to the Chamber of Secrets," Riddle said once they were a good ways into the room, gesturing elaborately in a sarcastic movement that was probably supposed to mock Dippet's hand gestures at his welcome speech back in September.

"It's actually… kind of amazing," Ginny admitted, looking around with something like awe. "I mean, it's a little dodgy, but not in a bad way. Just in a Slytherin way."

"It is my favorite place in the world," Riddle said with perfect seriousness. Ginny glanced at him, but didn't say anything, realizing that he was pretty much stating the obvious. It was the only place in the school that was actually _his_, the only place on earth he could call his own.

"Did you spend a lot of time down here?" asked Ginny as Riddle put a hand on the small of Ginny's back and began leading her off to the side, where she noticed he had a small cauldron bubbling over a fire. There were several ingredients neatly lined up on a transfigured shelf, and next to that a potions book was opened up on the floor. "I mean, before this year?"

Riddle shook his head, and he almost looked upset as he answered. "I didn't dare, not after my fifth year. Then, I could hardly be torn away from it, but last year I was forced to stay away. Dumbledore had been keeping an annoyingly close watch on me, and I believe that the only reason he has backed off this year is due to your apparent influence on me."

"My influence on you?" asked Ginny. She scrunched her nose a little. "I don't think I've had an 'apparent' influence on you."

Riddle lowered himself regally to the floor- if that was even possible- and reached into the bag he'd had slung over his shoulder and began pulling out ingredients. Ginny plopped down next to him as he began lining them up neatly next to his cauldron.

"Really?" Riddle asked as Ginny fidgeted a bit to get comfortable. "What house are you in?"

"Oh," said Ginny, eyes widening a little as she saw what he was getting at. "I'm a Hufflepuff, and a girl, and probably the first friend you've had that anyone with half a brain could see you don't think is an idiot."

"More or less," Riddle smirked. He absentmindedly sprinkled some of something into his potion and stirred it for several seconds. "I am fully aware that Dumbledore still does not trust me, but I also have slightly more freedom this year. I am relatively certain that he believes your influence on me will keep me from doing anything worse than I have already done."

"Huh," said Ginny. "I don't think he realizes that I'm not the best influence on you, since _I've _apparently taken over your spot as the one who likes messing around with giant snakes." She thought for a moment longer, and then asked, "But seriously, is he right? About my sparkling influence keeping you out of trouble?"

Riddle snorted.

"Yes, he is right. Why do you think I haven't killed you yet? With how inconvenient my attachment to you has become, it would certainly make everything easier."

Ginny smiled as Riddle grabbed something else and crumbled it into the potion, not even having to pay attention to his movements as he worked. He was so good at everything that it still made her jealous, despite having several months to get used to his seemingly endless supply of talent.

"Inconvenient. Merlin, Riddle, if nothing else, you are the most unromantic sod that I have ever met," Ginny laughed. She wasn't really offended. It was Riddle, and if he was saying their relationship was inconvenient, it was because he thought that it was _too _serious, because he felt more than he wanted. Really, calling her inconvenient was practically a compliment.

"We're dating. Believe me, Ginevra, that is far more romance than I _ever _planned on allowing into my life, and that I will allow into it any time _after _this."

He stirred the potion several more times and used his wand to adjust the heat of the flames, not even looking at Ginny as she curiously asked, "So you have no plans to find some super-powerful woman and make her your Dark Lady? Or even just to find someone to use as a… vessel for your heir?"

Riddle stopped working on his potion, then, and stared at Ginny for a long time without saying anything. The Head Girl blushed a tiny bit when she realized that her questions probably either made her sound really jealous or really creepy, but then she relaxed when Riddle turned his lips up in the smallest, most genuine of smirks.

"A vessel?" he asked, shaking his head. "I…" He released a low breath, and if Ginny didn't know any better, she would have figured that it was a substitute for a laugh. "No, Ginevra. Any woman, no matter how powerful, would be far beneath me, and I have no need for an heir as I have no intention of dying in the first place."

"So…" Ginny said, not looking at him, twirling a piece of hair absentmindedly around her finger, "You're saying that, out of every other girl on this _planet_, I am the _only _one you're ever going to look at twice?"

"Undoubtedly," said Riddle, like it wasn't a big deal at all. Ginny's heart still thudded unevenly in her chest, because although the word wasn't quite as sweet as it would have been coming from anyone else, it was still one of the most honestly... _romantic _things that anyone had ever said to her. Apparently she had spoken too soon when she'd called him an unromantic sod.

"Huh," Ginny said, because she had no idea what else to say. What could she say to something like that? "Thanks, I guess."

Riddle only nodded, and then, obviously finished with whatever he was doing to the draught, he climbed easily to his feet, holding out a hand to help Ginny up as well.

Quietly, the two heads left the Chamber, walking side by side. Ginny still wasn't sure what to do, but her heart was screaming at her to move closer to Riddle even as her head warned her that she was going to have to do _something _once Mason woke up, that things weren't going to stay like they were forever.

Ginny, after a second's hesitation, shrugged herself under Tom Riddle's arm, ignoring the way that he reflexively stiffened and grabbing onto his hand until his posture relaxed. No matter what happened, Ginny knew with a strange certainty that this delicate relationship that she had managed to establish with Riddle was too precious to destroy.

...

**A/N- **

**Sorry this is a bit late. I had a state track meet this weekend, and extreme writer's block when I got home yesterday. Anyhow, people have been clambering for _some _Tom/Ginny interaction, and although there isn't really much fluff in this, they're doing stuff together, so it's a little break from the constant twisty plot chapters that I've been pumping out. Besides, Riddle and Ginny's relationship does need some attention other than all of their arguing and what not, so. I hope y'all like this. **

**Oh, and several people have commented that I had Ginny referring to the Resurrection Stone as 'the ring', when she wouldn't know it was a ring, so thanks for pointing that out. I kind of spaced out on that, but now everything it all cleared up, so thanks for the help there. **

**And... that's all I have to say. Please continue to give me so many great, completley awesome reviews, and I'll try to update again ASAP. **

**~bballgirl32~**


	50. Orion Black's Maid

Grace Martian had begged out of her patrol with Ginny, saying that there was some stupid potions exam that she just _had _to study for, and so it was by herself that Ginny went through the motions of her historically uneventful Prefect patrols. She was just getting bored enough to contemplate skipping out on the second half of the patrol when a stocky, wild-haired figure jumped out of nowhere and held his wand up right in her face.

Instinctively, Ginny jerked into action and drew her wand fluidly, getting ready to throw a dangerous DA curse. Just before she could speak, however, a familiar bark-like laugh made her pull up short. Ginny huffed out an annoyed sigh when Orion Black said, "Riddle's blindness never ceases to amaze me. Tell me, Ginevra? Has he _ever _asked you why you're so jumpy?"

"I am _not _jumpy," Ginny said in annoyance. "And you're not a Head, or a Prefect, so I'm afraid I'm going to have to take… fifty points for being annoying, obnoxious, and… just, you. Why are you here, anyway? You never talk to me if you don't have a reason for it"

Orion snorted.

"Fifty points? That's absolutely ridiculous. In Slytherin, I have more authority than _anyone-" _

"Except for Riddle," Ginny interrupted. "And in case you haven't noticed, I'm not part of some crazy Slytherin hierarchy, so… Give me a reason not to take points. I'm really interested." She pulled up a little short when she saw that Orion actually looked rather less… smarmy than usual. "Waaait... there's actually something going on, isn't there?"

Nodding slightly and without batting an eye, Orion said, "I would have gotten to that sooner if you hadn't gotten so control-happy-" Ginny opened her mouth to protest, but Orion rolled his eyes instead, stepping forward in an almost predatory manner and leaning in so close that Ginny almost backed away in disgust, sure that he was going to kiss her. Then his lips went to her ear instead, and Ginny's heart almost stopped when he breathed, "But I think we need to discuss it somewhere more... private." He drew his head back so that their noses were almost brushing and smirked. "How do you feel about getting cozy in another storage closet?"

Ginny started a little, finally understanding what Orion was getting at. They had to go somewhere where the portraits, or Riddle's cronies, wouldn't hear. That meant that whatever Orion had to say was something bad- something bad about Riddle. Ginny took a deep breath.

"I'd love to," she replied shakily.

"Good," said Orion. Ginny wasn't quite certain that Riddle would react better to seeing them come out of a broom closet together than hearing whatever it was Orion had to say, but since she'd probably wind up dead either way, she wasn't going to be picky. Hesitantly, figuring that she had nothing to lose, Ginny wove her arm through Orion's and let him lead her off through a nearby door.

Once Orion Black had safely situated the two of them in a too-crowded closet and sufficiently charmed the door- enough to keep out a small army, Ginny figured- he lit his wand and turned to Ginny.

She figured that Orion was going to start out with some kind of explanation, or maybe that he was going to lead into something, but instead he abruptly asked, "Why are you lying about your name, where you are from, and what are you doing here?"

Ginny blinked, trying to wrap her head around why he would need to know all of this. Orion's suddenness had taken her by surprise.

"I can't tell you," she finally said, slowly, nervously. "I hardly know you, let alone trust you." She took a step away and wound up knocking over some bottle of something. Neither of them even glanced at it as it clattered to the floor. "Just because you're smart enough to help me out occasionally doesn't mean that we're even friends."

Orion raked a hand through his shaggy dark hair and moved forward slightly, everything about his posture asking her to just _tell _him. Ginny had never really been afraid of Orion, per se, but the almost crazed frustration on his face at that moment had her pretty darn nervous.

"Abraxas cares about you, and therefore, I do by extension of him," Orion said lowly. "Slytherins protect each other's property- not that he would ever refer to you as such- and therefore I _will_ force Veritaserum down your throat if I need to." He exhaled sharply. "What I just heard could put _you _in danger. I'm not asking because I need something to hold against you- God knows I could have Riddle after you in seconds if I wanted- but because I think that it is in _your _best interest to give up a few of your secrets."

Ginny looked over every inch of Orion Black's face, searching for something to convince him to trust her, but it was dark, and all that she could see of his face were shadows and scars that stood out in the strange light of his wand. The broken nose and roughish way he carried himself all added up to the impression that he was the exact kind of person she shouldn't tell her secret to, but something in the way he was speaking to her, the way that he actually looked _worried_, had Ginny just as concerned as he was.

"Tell me what's going on first," said Ginny finally. "Then I'll think about it."

Orion was quiet for a moment before he simply said, "Mulciber just had a very interesting discussion with me, one that... that I believe could lead to trouble for you if Riddle gets even a shred more of evidence." Endless black eyes met Ginny's. "You seem to think your secret is dangerous, and, if you're from where I expect, your boyfriend is dangerously close to figuring it out. Tell me, Ginevra: What do you think Riddle's reaction would be if he realized that you have been lying to him since the day you showed up here?"

Ginny coughed because she couldn't breathe properly.

If Riddle had figured out she had been lying?

He would have been hurt by the single person he had _ever _trusted.

No doubt he would retaliate to said hurt through torture and/or murder.

And then he would become more evil than before and take over the whole world. Again.

"Why do you think he's so close to figuring it out?" asked Ginny.

"A hunch," Orion said impatiently. "Now…" He gestured for her to speak.

There wasn't really any choice. It was obvious that Orion was being perfectly honest, and that he was actually nervous about whatever was going on.

So Ginny spoke.

"I'm from the future, I'm lying about my name because obviously none of the Weasleys here would have any idea who I am, and I originally came back in time to assassinate Tom Riddle," said Ginny simply. She figured embellishments weren't important.

Orion paused for a moment, taking this in, and then barked out a laugh so loud that Ginny worried even his ridiculous excess of enchantments wouldn't muffle the sound.

"To assassinate Tom Riddle?" asked Orion. He shook his head. "In the future, is 'assassinate' a synonym for 'snog'?"

"Is that all you have to tell me?" asked Ginny shortly. His words were echoing the thoughts that she'd been worrying about since she'd decided to not kill Riddle, and she hated how absolutely right they were.

"No, no," said Orion easily. "I also have to tell you that I was entirely right- as always- about Riddle being on the brink of uncovering at least part of your secret. Tell me, Ginevra, what were you thinking when you gave Riddle the necklace that you no doubt used to travel back in time?"

"Uh," said Ginny. She was starting to get even more nervous, because this was really, really not sounding good. "I wasn't thinking, really. He was just starting to get angry and frustrated, and I figured it was easier than having him steal it. Besides, he's going to give it back. Why?"

"When Mulciber spoke with me, he was primarily expressing his concerns about McCreery's whereabouts, but he also mentioned strange discussions he's been having with Riddle. Apparently your boyfriend has been disappointed in the experimenting he has done with your necklace. Mulciber tells me that he at first conjectured that it was not the real artifact, but had several of his Death Eaters go through extensive research to prove that he indeed possessed Slytherin's Stone of Eons."

"Alright," said Ginny. "So it's not working so great. What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is," answered Orion, "that Riddle has hypothesized that the magic in the necklace has been drained almost entirely away. Mulciber has seen Riddle's notes- he was apparently rummaging through his things in search of something on McCreery- and apparently the Head Boy has even come up with a half dozen or so ideas of why the necklace would have so little energy left. Do you know how much magic it takes to travel this far back in time, Ginevra?"

Ginny felt her hands go cold. She tried to speak several times, but it felt like something had become wedged quite firmly in her throat.

"Enough to sap away almost all of the magic stored in one of Salazar Slytherin's most powerful artifacts," Orion said, answering his own question. "I'm sure he hasn't been telling you this due to suspicion, but if he settles on that time-travel hypothesis, there is no doubt in my mind that he _will _kill you."

_He wouldn't_, Ginny wanted to say. She wanted to believe it. She wanted to think that Riddle cared too much to kill her, but that was stupid. What reason would he have for caring for her if he expected that she didn't really care for him?

"He won't find out," Ginny said with fake confidence. "There's no way that he can actually test his theory, right? I mean, if I don't tell him, he'll just be stuck on those few ideas for a while. And maybe Mulciber is overreacting." Ginny reached for something that would dull the horror that was starting to pulse through her veins. "He's… he's just a poor, ugly excuse for a Slytherin, right? He probably saw the notes and panicked."

Orion Black shook his head and sighed.

"As much as I hate to admit it, Mulciber isn't as dumb as he looks, and I think getting his face burnt off did something to kick whatever brains he's got into gear. I don't know if there is a way that Riddle could test his hypothesis without directly involving you, but I have sources saying that he's been experimenting with legilimency. Don't screw yourself over when you're gazing soulfully into his eyes, and, Merlin, don't accept any drinks from him."

"Do you really think he'd do that?" asked Ginny, then wanted to kick herself for being a complete moron. He kissed her a couple times and said a few sweet words, and suddenly Riddle turned into Romeo Montague. Ginny had considered giving Riddle Veritaserum when he hadn't been telling her the truth about Mason, so it was almost a given that he'd give her _something _to dig out her secrets if he was worried she had any.

"Don't kid yourself," Orion laughed. "Riddle would probably Crucio it out of you if he had _any _idea what you were trying to do. Just… get that damn necklace back and watch yourself around him, because there's no way to tell how much acting he's doing and what he's actually being honest about." Orion locked eyes with Ginny, and the Head Girl felt her knees go weak. Not like when Riddle stared at her, but in a way that made it feel like _he _was the Legilimens. Like he could see every thought in her head. "I have no doubt that he does make exceptions for you, but it would be in your best interests not to push him too far."

"Yeah," sighed Ginny. "I know. I'll… he said he'd give me the necklace when I asked for it, and if it's not giving him any real power, maybe… maybe he'll give it back easily. I don't know. Do you think he already knows too much?"

Orion ran a hand through his hair again. Apparently a nervous habit, just like Harry.

"Maybe. Maybe not," said Orion. "I think that all you can do is play the part of perfect girlfriend and... I don't know. You _aren't _going to kill him, are you?"

Ginny shook her head immediately.

"No."

Orion wasn't happy about this, that was obvious, but he didn't say anything for a while, and the closet was tense and quiet until he hesitantly asked, "Why were you supposed to kill him, anyway?"

Ginny knew she could tell Orion. He wouldn't say anything. He probably knew Occulamency and, if not, wasn't the type to give Riddle the honor of eye contact anyway. He was secretive and already knew almost as much as she did. What would one more little piece of information hurt?

Yet, Ginny couldn't help but hesitate. This was the bad part of her story. The part that made her sound like the worst kind of person possible.

"He turns evil," Ginny finally said softly. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes, and, scarily, she wasn't sure if she was crying for Riddle's fate or that of her family. Probably both. "He gains power and takes over most of the world. And I don't mean politically. I mean… he gets his Death Eater followers and… goes crazy. Kills every Muggleborn in sight. Although I suppose you _do _wind up supporting the hell out of that. Funding him and everything-"

"_What_?" Orion cut in. He wasn't disgusted at what Riddle had done. He was mad at what _he'd _done, and Ginny couldn't help but laugh just a little.

"You didn't know who he was. Believe me. He turns… ugly. Like bald, and without a nose or lips, and just… grotesque. Disgusting. Everyone thinks he's a pureblood overlord named Lord Voldemort. They don't realize that it's Riddle. Anyhow, there was this one boy…" Ginny swallowed again and wiped at her eyes. "This boy who was supposed to stop Voldemort. Except he didn't. Voldemort killed him. And two of my brothers. My best friend. His followers took out my father and made my mother go crazy. This… going back in time to stop him, it was the _world's _only chance."

Orion didn't say anything for a very long time, but he looked haunted. Troubled. Like his confidence had all been sucked away. Ginny remembered from somewhere that he'd died the same year as Regulus, and that none of Sirius's family had known exactly what being a Death Eater would entail. They figured it was a pureblood supremacy organization. Not the slaughter of thousands. Orion Black had supported it because he didn't _quite _know, and even now the idea of what Tom Riddle would do was clearly making him uncomfortable.

"Tom Riddle," said Orion. He ran a hand through his hair. Again. It was long and thick enough that it had taken to sticking out around his head in a black halo that almost made Ginny laugh. Almost. "Tom Riddle takes over the world. How…" he started. "How can you _not _want to kill him?"

Ginny looked down at her hands uncomfortably.

"I did at first," she admitted. "But… I had to gain his trust, so he could give me these… these things, things I'd need to kill him. So I went out of my way to be his friend, and he just started changing. He'd say things and ask questions and just… act differently than I _ever _would have expected from him, and then he started _like _liking me, and I just… I'm an idiot, aren't I?"

"No," said Orion. He looked troubled. "You're a Hufflepuff. Damn, you _can't _let him kill you, you know that, right?"

"It might be better if he does," Ginny admitted sulkily. "If that ever happens, find Mason- he'll be back by then- and have him help you kill Riddle. At least you guys would have the guts to do it. I'm trying to help him, God knows I am, but if it doesn't work, or if he figures out what I'd originally been sent back to do, you guys have to..."

"Kill him," Orion finished. He didn't even look happy about it. "Don't worry. We'll do it. But, Ginevra?" he asked.

"Yeah?"

"Abraxas won't be the only one who gets mad if that bastard kills you. I'll admit, I thought that you'd fed Abraxas a love potion when he started spouting shit about the beautiful and fearless Hufflepuff, but… you're decent. Different. Better." Orion looked like he wanted to kick himself. "Maybe you don't see me as a friend, but you're one of the few girls, one of the few Hufflepuffs, who I would see as mine." _  
><em>

Ginny had no idea what to say, and she was still crying like she hadn't in a ridiculously long time, so instead of giving Orion any words, she reached forward and hugged the stocky Slytherin, who shook his head and chuckled deep.

"Yeah," he muttered. "_Definitely _a Hufflepuff."

Ginny backed up and swatted at him, and even though she was worried about Riddle, she was also relieved. Orion and Abraxas would have her back, and Mason was coming back. They'd help her out if she needed it.

"Before we leave," said Orion then, "how upset would you be if McCreery and I got together and killed Riddle now? It would take the job out of your hands."

"I'd kill you if you tried," said Ginny with a seriousness that scared even her, even though she was almost sure Orion was joking. Orion barked out another laugh, and without another word he turned and tore open the door to the closet.

Orion slipped off discreetly enough, and Ginny watched him go before turning and hurrying off around a corner.

She didn't get ten feet away from the closet before she rammed into an enormous, wall-like surface. Ginny fell backwards, landing hard on her bum, and then gaped when she saw Raul Lestrange leering down at her, looking way, way too pleased.

"I think the Master will be very upset when he hears what you've been doing, little Hufflepuff," Lestrange said darkly. Ginny reached for her wand, planning on sending a desperate memory charm in his direction, but Raul kicked her hand hard before she got the chance. She dropped her wand and swallowed as it went clattering across the floor.

Ginny did the first thing she could think of.

"HELP!" she screeched once, as loud as she could. Orion had to have heard.

"Fooling around with Orion Black," laughed Lestrange. "And now calling for his help. I feel bad for you, girl. Really, I do. It's going to be a shame when Lord Voldemort messes up your pretty little face-"

"I wasn't fooling around with him," Ginny said desperately. "We were discussing something."

Lestrange smiled big, his beady little eyes looking way, way too happy as he bent over and scooped Ginny up into his enormous gorilla-hands, not noticing her struggling and kicking in the least. He had to weigh at least twice as much as she did, and, unfortunately, it was all height and muscle.

"We'll see what the Lord has to say about that," he guffawed. Ginny opened her mouth to scream again, but a big, hairy hand was shoved over her mouth, and the sound came out as more of a desperate gag.

Lestrange turned to walk off, no doubt to haul Ginny up to the Head's common room, but Orion Black chose that second to come back into view, somehow soundlessly appearing directly behind Lestrange and drawing back a fist, having to reach up to sock the ape in the face.

Ginny used the opportunity to let out a sigh of relief and duck out of Lestrange's hold, landing awkwardly on one ankle but managing to catch her footing enough to scurry after her wand, picking it up while Lestrange was still swaying from Orion's punch.

Orion raised his wand in a fluid movement and began to say, "Oblivi-" But was cut off by another voice.

"What an interesting party."

Ginny jerked back up to her full height. Lestrange made a funny noise and tried to stand up straight to bow, but wound up stumbling into a wall instead. Ginny could see blood glistening all over his face even in the dim light, and she vaguely wondered if Orion Black wore so many rings so he could tear that much skin off whenever he had an opportunity to punch somebody. By his messed-up nose and the smirk still on his face, she had to figure that he enjoyed Muggle fist-fighting more than dueling, ironically enough since he was about as pureblooded as was possible.

"Riddle," said Orion. He barked out another doggish laugh and retreated back to stand next to Ginny, still keeping his wand up and ready. "Don't trust your girlfriend enough to let her patrol without your help?"

"They were in that closest together,'' Lestrange said abruptly.

"You're _apparently_ pureblooded," Orion cut in sarcastically. His smirk wasn't even attractive anymore- it was all vindictiveness. Ginny almost shivered at the acid in it. "You know how powerful our engagement vows are. I couldn't touch your girlfriend even if I _wanted _to." He held up his heavily-jeweled hand and twirled one of his rings- an enormous black diamond thing- around his ring finger. The light from Riddle's wand illuminated the blood on its gold band. "I would have lost a hand if I'd tried to fool around behind Walburga's back."

Riddle said nothing. He was looking straight at Ginny.

"He practically ambushed me," she said honestly, not looking away. "I was patrolling, and you know I was by myself because Grace was studying, and he found me because he wanted to talk."

Still nothing.

"I tried to break down the door," volunteered Lestrange. His mouth was so full of blood that Ginny had trouble understanding him.

"I charmed it," Orion said easily. "I know you've got goons running around this school at all hours. Ginevra and I were having a private conversation, and I did not want it interrupted."

Riddle's eyes were so angry that even Ginny was scared, and she thought she'd gotten desensitized to his glares a long, long time ago. Yet, he did not speak. Ginny wanted to cry out in frustration. So much for taking Orion's advice and playing the perfect, trustworthy girlfriend.

"I think they were snogging," Lestrange commented. Too quick for Ginny to see, Orion had his wand out. A flash of light illuminated the dim hallway, and then the beastly Slytherin was sprawled out across the floor.

Ginny wondered why in the hell Orion never did anything like that in DADA.

"Sorry, he was getting rather bothersome," said Orion. Then he repeated, "You know the magic in my ring would keep me from cheating on my fiancée." His smirk relaxed and his eyes became easygoing. The charisma that had previously faded with his worry was now rolling off him in waves. Ginny almost smiled at how _charming _he looked, like he was talking to his best friend. "Although, if you insist, I suppose I could enlighten you as to the nature of our conversation. Ginevra wished to keep it a secret, but…"

"I _insist_," spat Riddle.

Ginny forced herself to keep her face cool and blank. She had no idea what Orion was doing, but trusted him enough to believe that he wasn't going into this completely blind.

"She does not have the money that you would believe," Orion revealed with flawless sincerity. "Her parents had been in extreme debt when they passed away, and much of her inheritance has gone to paying it off. She has little money and no place to go as of her graduation. The Ministry is not offering any new jobs in the light of the war, especially not to a newly graduated _woman_, and Ginevra was afraid that she would wind up on the streets. I was _offering her a job. _As my maid, if you really must know."

Riddle couldn't quite hide his surprise at this, and he looked over at Ginny, who looked at her feet and let her hair fall in a curtain across her face, as if she was embarrassed and didn't want him to see. Internally, she was half impressed at Orion for coming up with such a believable lie, and half pissed off that he would even present the idea of her being his bloody _maid_.

"Ginevra?" asked Riddle.

Ginny crossed her arms over her chest and easily lied, "Yes_, _Riddle, I don't have the money you think it do. It's…" She thought of something genius and had to stifle a grin. "It's the reason I didn't want you to have that necklace before. Because it's the only really valuable thing that I have left. I'm sorry I lied, but you've always hated being poor so much, and you immediately thought I wasn't, and- I just couldn't bring myself to tell you that I'm not much better off than you are."

Orion crossed his arms over his chest and scoffed haughtily.

"Yet, apparently she is still too good to work for me," he said, his manner and tone of voice both perfect enough that even Ginny was beginning to believe the situation they were describing. It was more or less true anyway, she supposed. Dumbledore had given her enough money to last a year, not a lifetime. If she stayed in 1945, she was soon going to be even more broke than she had been as a Weasley.

"I'm not dumb enough to think that you're telling the truth," said Riddle icily. It was his first full sentence since he had found them, and Ginny cringed at how plain the hatred was in his voice. She only prayed that it was directed at Orion and not at her.

"I _am_," Ginny said pleadingly. Riddle said nothing, only shook his head and began walking away without even sparing a glance at his unconscious Death Eater. Orion shoved Ginny forward, gesturing for her to go after him, and Ginny ran ahead. She was limping on the ankle she had twisted- the damn thing hurt like hell- but hurried forward anyway. She was desperate to talk down a steaming Riddle.

Both of them were silent for a very long time, and then Riddle harshly said, "Don't talk to me now, Ginevra. I may not be able to control myself."

Ginny took a shaky breath.

"But if I don't talk to you now, I probably won't get another chance. I'd rather get my face cursed off like Mulciber than lose whatever I've managed to get from you so far."

Funnily enough, she realized that her words were true.

"I hate Orion Black," Riddle told her, like this wasn't already a well-known fact.

"He's only nice to me because of Abraxas," Ginny told him. "I'm almost sure that Abraxas is the only reason he offered me that job in the first place."

"Orion Black is 'nice' to you because he sees the same qualities in you that I do, not because of his foolish friend," Riddle contradicted coldly. "While I do believe that he is bound to his leech of a fiancée- the magic coming off of his ring was unmistakable- I also believe that he and you were speaking _against _me, that your friendship with him as not as innocent as I would like to believe."

"Why would I ever want to go against you?" asked Ginny, trying very, very hard not to let her guilt show.

"Why _not_?" asked Riddle, gesturing broadly to himself. "You have every reason in the world to plot behind my back."

Ginny had to admit this was true, but she also had to admit that there was _something_ about Riddle that made her go against all common sense to give him a chance, something that made her feel insanely guilty even for that little talk she'd just had with Orion. Something that made her want to take back all of her lies and tell him _everything. _

Something that made her say, "Because I care about you too much."

And something that had her cut off Riddle's protest by grabbing his shoulders and pulling him down to her height so that she could kiss him. Kiss him until he relaxed and allowed his hands to rest loosely on her waist, until he kissed back, frustrated and worried and unmistakably possessive.

But that was okay, Ginny realized as she pushed back thoughts of worries and warning and guilt, because even though Riddle treated Ginny like she was his, she had a strange feeling that he was just as much hers.

**A/N- **

** So I started this chapter with plans of having it be all Mason and Ginny, and somehow it turned into this. I kind of like it, though, at least a little, and it's super-long, which I know some of you have been asking for. **

** Anyhow, I really have to thank Alanna for sending me a super-flattering awesome review that actually had me laughing at some of the Twilight comments, and pretty much smiling through the whole thing. It was sweet enough that I had to put some kind of thank you in for it. **

** That's about it, I think. I'm not sure how many chapters I have left, but it's not any more than ten, so I would really, really love if you guys would all review- just a quick comment is always appreciated, so I could reach a thousand by the time that I'm finished, because that would be awesome. **

** Thanks so much, **

** ~bballgirl32~**


	51. Death Threats, Arguments, & Power Plays

"I had always credited Black with some small amount of intelligence, but I think that I grossly overestimated him," Riddle commented as he and Ginny entered the dungeons together that Friday. Ginny glanced up to see Orion and Abraxas huddled up in the front of the potions room, neither of them so much as glancing in Ginny's direction. They hadn't all week; Ginny assumed that Orion was trying to pacify Riddle.

Not that he needed to, surprisingly enough. To Ginny's shock, after they'd returned to the common room that night, Riddle had resumed acting like his normal self, as if he had completely forgotten about the incident in the first place.

It was frustrating, the way that Orion and Abraxas had both taken up the habit of disappearing whenever Ginny came anywhere near them, especially when Riddle was apparently impassive to the whole thing. Ginny would've figured that Abraxas wouldn't have been quite so into it because he didn't know what was really going on- or Orion Black better have hoped that Abraxas didn't know what was going on- but whatever Orion had told him had him hiding just as much as his friend.

"Why would you say that?" asked Ginny, going back to Riddle's comment about Orion Black's stupidity. She took out her books and leaned back in her seat, glancing over at Riddle. The Head Boy was busy watching Orion, who didn't seem to be doing anything out of the ordinary. "He's just talking."

Riddle pursed his lips, saying, "He hasn't even looked at you since our confrontation. Such a blatant change of behavior… it only increases my suspicions. Orion Black is trying to _mollify_ me."

Riddle said 'mollify' as if Orion was cooing in baby voices and offering him candy.

"Er," said Ginny, internally thinking that Riddle was the only person alive who would be _mad _at his archenemy for staying away from his girlfriend. "Maybe he's just scared. You were just a tiny bit…, uh, _vexed_ when you found us."

An amused chuckle fell off Riddle's lips.

"Vexed?" asked Riddle, like Ginny was ridiculous. _Well_, Ginny figured, _at least he realizes how scary-angry he gets sometimes. Realizing the problem is the first step to finding a solution_. "I am beginning to wonder if Hufflepuffs spend their free time practicing politically-correct euphemisms." He shook his head like he couldn't believe her, then dryly added, "And no, I know better than to think that Orion Black is _scared _of me. I fully realize that he is attempting to make you appear as innocent as possible."

"Aren't I _always_ as innocent as possible?"

That, apparently, didn't warrant a response, because the small amount of amusement that had been in Riddle's features melted into a fake kind of playfulness- a playfulness that no doubt covered something serious at best, and sinister at worst.

"Ginevra, you are too smart not to realize that Orion's behavior only means he has something to hide. That _both _of you have something to hide." Riddle's fake-smile twisted into a very, very real smirk as he lightly continued, "I finished the mandrake draught early this morning, but…" He stopped for a dramatic, rather Voldemort-like pause, "You're not being entirely honest with me now, and it seems that you enjoy talking about me behind my back, so I am… extremely concerned that waking McCreery will only exacerbate this behavior."

"It's _Mason_," argued Ginny. "He won't-"

"Ginevra, you know as well as I do that Mason McCreery is much more dangerous to me than Orion Black." Ginny's grip tightened around her quill as Riddle finished, saying, "Before I give you that draught, I want the _truth _about your late-night conversation with Black. I need to know that I can trust you."

_That's why he's been so good lately, _Ginny thought in frustration. Riddle had been waiting to spring this on her- a stupid plan to get her to willingly tell him a truth that she absolutely _couldn't. _And he'd waited, waited until Ginny knew how close she was to seeing Mason again, just to make his threat all the more potent.

It was even more frustrating because, though Ginny had expected him to do something, _this… _definitely was not it.

"I-I-" started Ginny, hesitating. What was she supposed to tell him? To trust her when she was wanted Mason awake to do _exactly _what he feared? Ginny struggled to come up with a good excuse of some sort, but, before she could say anything, Slughorn entered the room and began instructing the class.

Ginny didn't pay any attention at all. Her brain was busy trying to come up with lies, with stories that she could tell Riddle to convince him to give her that draught. Anything but the truth, because Ginny knew that she _needed _Mason. He was the one who really knew about the Hallows, the one who could help her, and… well, Ginny _missed _him.

Letting Riddle keep that stupid draught from her wasn't an option.

As Ginny tried coming up with excuses, Riddle stared at her. Ginny forced herself not to look back at him, but she could feel his eyes burning into the side of her head. Like he was trying to do Legilimency without eye-contact. Or maybe he was trying to intimidate her, to scare her into compliance.

That last thought almost made Ginny laugh. If she hadn't run away from him, screaming, yet, surely someone as smart as Riddle wouldn't expect her to start now.

Then, after what seemed like the shortest class hour of Ginny's life, Slughorn concluded his lecture. Riddle stood to his full height and swiftly gathered his books, then waited with deceptive patience while Ginny slowly collected her own things, putting each item into her bag with unnecessary care, still not knowing what to say.

Despite her hesitation, Ginny's desk was soon clean and she was forced to sling her bag over her shoulder and begin walking out of the room, followed closely by Riddle. She'd gotten to know him well enough that she could _feel _his confidence. He had her and he knew it.

As they walked, in the direction of the Chamber, Ginny noted- like Riddle was _that _sure she would tell- Ginny contemplated a potential beginning for their conversation.

"Do you trust me, Riddle?" Ginny finally started, half-hoping that he was going to answer in the negative. He _shouldn't _have trusted her.

Riddle blinked once and shrugged.

"In some matters, I suppose so," he said without hesitation. His dark eyes met hers. "Although I am beginning to have very… _dangerous _suspicions in others."

"Dangerous for me, I suppose?" asked Ginny, just for confirmation.

"Naturally."

They walked on for a while longer.

"Remember," tried Ginny, "when I _knew _you were hiding Mason, but you said that even if I knew you were lying to me, that I should trust that you were lying for a good reason?"

"I did wind up telling you."

"Yeah! When I _forced _you into it."

Riddle looked at Ginny and smirked, commenting, with way too much self-satisfaction, "I was under the impression that you fully comprehended that, right now, I am attempting to _force _you into admitting your own secret. However, if I am mistaken, please, enlighten me and I will go to greater lengths to make my intentions easier to understand."

_Smart arse._

"Oh, screw you," Ginny muttered under her breath. She'd have to tell Riddle _something _if she was going to wake Mason up, that was fast becoming obvious, but what?

Then another thought struck Ginny.

Did she even need Mason?

Ginny cringed. What a Slytherin thought- not wanting to save Mason because he was her friend, but rather because of what he could do for her. Still… Mason would understand, right? That she couldn't tell Riddle any of this without putting herself in terrible danger?

But unfortunately Ginny did need Mason; keeping him petrified wasn't really an option. Orion Black had no idea what she should do about the Hallows, and Mason had to explain everything to her, to tell her why he was so concerned about her finding out about them in the first place.

"I… Orion heard that my necklace hasn't been working so hot," Ginny finally ventured. There was nothing _too _condemning about that statement. Maybe it rubbed dangerously close to Riddle's time travel theory, but it didn't confirm anything. "He didn't explain anything, not really… but he just mentioned that you were suspicious about why it's not working, and that I should be careful around you."

Immediately, despite how careful Ginny had been about what she said, Riddle tensed and stopped. Ginny carefully slowed as well, hesitating a few feet behind him, being careful not to venture too closely.

"Orion Black _couldn't _have known about that," Riddle said darkly. He let out a low breath. "My theories were hidden. He doesn't know the magic necessary to counter my defensive charms… he should have lost his hand just from trying-"Riddle cut off abruptly and spun to face Ginny. "It wasn't Orion, was it?"

"Riddle! _I don't know_," Ginny widened her eyes, pleading with him to believe her. "Orion just told me about the necklace, nothing else."

Riddle obviously didn't believe her, but said, "Very well, we will talk about the necklace, though the other topic would have been much safer for _you_." He pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger and exhaled, his face twisted from the effort he was making to stay calm. "Of course, what you said _is_ true. Your necklace is not 'working so hot'."

"I still don't get how that could have you so worried," Ginny said with feigned ignorance. "Are you mad that it can't make you immortal anymore?"

Smirking darkly, Riddle said, "Hardly." He reached out and gently trailed a hand down Ginny's neck, the touch ghostly light, taunting almost, until his fingers closed around the gold chain that she wore around her throat. The chain that held Riddle's Horcrux.

"I have no worries about my immortality_,"_ said Riddle softly. He ran a finger over his ring, almost protectively, like he was worried that Ginny _would _harm it. "I am more concerned about you… about your strange presence here. Your unlikely appearance at the beginning of your seventh year."

Ginny stared Riddle right in the eye. _Daring _him to use whatever Legilimency he'd been learning on her, showing him that she trusted him fully even when she wanted nothing more than to run.

"My _parents died_, Riddle," Ginny choked out. "Just because you've got bloody trust issues doesn't mean that you can accuse me of lying about _that_, because believe me, they _are gone_. Maybe the necklace doesn't have as much magic as it should, but it's old. Why is it automatically my fault?"

Riddle said nothing.

"I told you what Orion and I talked about," said Ginny accusingly. "You said I could wake Mason if I told you."

The Head Boy let go of Ginny's necklace and took a step back, everything about him entirely unreadable.

"My Horcrux, that ring, is the first thing you noticed about me," Riddle said quietly. "The first time that we met, you commented on my ring. I do not believe in coincidence."

It didn't take very long for Ginny to catch what Riddle was getting at.

"You gave it to me to try to catch me," Ginny accused. She narrowed her eyes. "What would you have done if it disappeared? Killed me?"

Riddle shrugged unashamedly.

"Most likely. However, you still _do_ have it, and neither it, nor you, show signs of damage." He closed his eyes and released a low breath. "You're too good of a liar for me to trust completely, but, until you prove otherwise, I will not take any action." Ginny sighed when Riddle concluded, "I will allow you into the Chamber. You gave me the information that I have asked for."

Ginny stared, and Riddle, not entirely comfortable with her shock, abruptly changed the subject, guessing, "Mulciber is the one who spoke with Orion, isn't he? He is the only Death Eater who would dare."

"I…" started Ginny. She didn't know what to say; especially not now that it seemed Riddle had just given her what appeared to be a free pass. "I... I don't know who it was. Orion just told me that his 'sources' got him the information."

Riddle appeared unconcerned.

"I hardly need your confirmation. I cursed the fool for stupidity and now I'm afraid that I'll have to kill him for intelligence."

"Riddle-" Ginny started, almost choking on the word. "I… I'll…"

"Our relationship would end rather abruptly after that, wouldn't it?" interrupted Riddle coolly. He let out a low, chilling chuckle as he turned away from Ginny and began walking forward again. "Holding me back, as always."

Ginny followed after him, confused and terrified and relieved all at the same time.

"I'm rather surprised that we actually still _have _a relationship," Ginny blurted nervously. She noticed they were finally approaching the second-floor lavatories and had to hold back a sigh of relief. Riddle really was going to let her wake up Mason. "What's it been? Two weeks, and you're already ready to kill me."

"I wish that were the case," said Riddle unconcernedly. They entered the bathroom together and the Head Boy continued, "Unfortunately, I've not found anything quite damning enough to bring myself to eliminate you over... yet."

"Unfortunately?" asked Ginny.

"Of course," the Head Boy said. Ginny could see a strange emotion brewing up in his eyes, one that he couldn't quite hold back and one that Ginny didn't know how to interpret. "You're too distracting to be left alive."

"Well that's... sweet," Ginny swallowed. She let out a low breath and reminded herself that she didn't need to be so nervous anymore. She was in the clear, thank Merlin. At least for a really, really short amount of time. "Now, er..." She gestured to the row of sinks in front of her.

"I'll escort you to the Chamber and will show you to McCreery, as well as give you the draught. Then, as I mentioned previously, I will leave so as to avoid any unwanted injuries. Oh, and Ginevra?"

"Huh?"

"Be careful."

Ginny wanted to believe that he was warning her about the basilisk and the Chamber, damn she wanted to believe that, but something in her gut knew that he wasn't expressing concern. He was warning her. To be careful about what she did, what she discussed, with Mason.

_Yeah, _Ginny thought miserably, hating herself for being such a liar. _I'll be careful not to get caught again._

Then Riddle began hissing at the sinks again, all while Ginny watched carefully, reminding herself that he had just admitted to considering _killing _her, and that, even though they were going out, now really was not the time to think about how strangely attractive she thought it was to hear him speaking Parseltongue.

Almost like he knew exactly what Ginny was thinking, Riddle smirked just a small amount too widely when he stepped back and let her through the hole in the ground first. This time, Ginny barely even hesitated before stepping in, and she only stumbled a little bit when she landed. Of course, Riddle still made her look clumsy and uncoordinated, but she was getting rather used to that.

Neither of them said a word as they made their way through the underground labyrinth. Riddle was still clearly on the fence concerning what his opinion of his obviously dishonest girlfriend should be, and Ginny didn't want to say anything to incriminate herself, not to mention that she was pretty sure that Riddle wasn't in the mood for any mindless small talk. Both of them were unsure and, at least in Ginny's case, nervous, and so they simply moved forward in silence, not commenting on the impossible tension that was settling in the dark tunnels.

After what seemed like an eternity, Riddle came to a stop in front of the entrance to the Chamber. Ginny's heart thudded against her chest- a reaction that was impossible to cure- as the snakes moved under Riddle's command, circling back until the doors slowly swung open. Riddle stepped briskly into the Chamber, cloak snapping at his heels, and Ginny followed closely behind.

Riddle's first move was to walk over to the cauldron he had worked on the week before. Carefully, he poured a small sample of the potion into a single tube and put a stopper on it, then stashed it in his pocket and vanished the remainder of his ingredients. Ginny didn't move as Riddle purposefully moved towards one of the giant snake statues and hissed at it. She was even too shocked to jump when the statue split in two, revealing a hollow middle and a scarily still person.

Ginny inhaled sharply when Riddle flicked his wand and easily maneuvered Mason out of his hiding place and into a spot only a short distance away from Ginny. Even though it looked like he was made of stone, Ginny still had to hold back tears at seeing Mason for the first time in so many weeks. Longer, really, if she counted how long she'd been mad at him, avoiding him because he was mad at her for turning her back on the world and going out with Lord Voldemort.

Gosh, it seemed stupid. Mason had been the smart one, and even if Ginny still wasn't going to listen to him, she also reminded herself that he was the intelligent one in the situation and that all of his anger towards her had been totally logical. Merlin, she wanted to hug him and beg for forgiveness, because gosh, he looked so sad, not moving and skinny and with those big eyes that didn't seem to see anything.

"Ginevra," said Riddle impatiently. Ginny hurriedly turned around and looked at him, holding out her hand for the draught and hoping that she wasn't being too presumptuous. With a tight feeling in her chest, she vaguely wondered whether or not Riddle had changed his mind.

Riddle placed the bottle in Ginny's hand, and the Head Girl sighed in relief. Okay. Maybe Riddle wasn't quite as evil as she thought.

"You don't have any more wrong moves," Riddle warned carefully. "I am _trusting _you with that."

_You shouldn't._

"Don't worry," Ginny said, wanting really badly to hug or maybe kiss him to show how grateful she was that he actually kept his word. She didn't, though. They were kind of almost fighting, at least she thought so, and she didn't think he'd appreciate any friendly gestures at that moment. "I promise I won't do anything to hurt you. Thank you so much for giving this to me, and-"

"Hug me and get it over with," Riddle said coldly. Ginny stopped talking and stared. Did Voldemort just _ask _for a hug?

"What?" asked Ginny.

"It will be hours before you shut up otherwise," the Head Boy replied evenly, looking Ginny straight in the eye and somehow managing to appear more apathetic than Mason, which was really saying something at that moment.

"But we're fighting."

Then Riddle shook his head and raised a hand, settling it gently on Ginny's cheek, his eyes softening and his posture relaxing so quickly that Ginny vaguely wondered whether or not her boyfriend was bipolar.

"You should know better Ginevra. Death threats, arguments, power-plays... I'm not fighting with you. It is simply how I think. You need to realize that..." Riddle raked his free hand through his hair in a very, very un-Voldemort-like movement and said with so much apathy that Ginny _knew _he was working to cover up something else, "You need to realize that I am unmistakably fond of you. I may not trust you entirely, and perhaps you make me unbelievably angry a ridiculous amount of the time, but, what I'm doing... I am not looking for a reason to hurt you."

Ginny didn't know why, but she suddenly had the strangest urge to start crying.

"Then what _are_ you doing?" she asked quietly, not looking at Riddle, and hating herself for being this emotional around him, especially when she needed him to think that she was strong and perfect and somebody who he _could _trust. "Because it seems like you're pretty intent on finding an excuse to kill me."

"I am," said Riddle. "But only because I desperately need motivation to save myself."

Then, before Ginny could really even comprehend that, Riddle was already walking away. Ginny stared after him, unable to believe that he had just said... that. That he'd gone from infuriating her to worrying her to scaring her to... to whatever in the hell that was, in about two hours. It was ridiculous and somehow she hated it and loved it at the same time.

It was also ridiculous that all she could think about was how Riddle had forgotten his hug.

Releasing a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding, Ginny tore her mind away from Riddle and moved towards Mason. Carefully, Ginny pulled the stopper out of the vial and slowly, with shaking hands, poured the pale green potion into Mason's partially open mouth.

At first nothing had happened, and Ginny was sure that Riddle had tricked her, but then, after several seconds, Mason's face seemed to gain a little color. Almost like a black-and-white Muggle movie coming to life, Mason slowly unfroze, his hands mindlessly twitching, and then his shoulders moving a bit, and then his eyes, blinking steadily, taking in his surroundings with obviously well-practiced calm.

Then his gaze rested on Ginny.

The second that Mason's lips broke into a wide, rarely genuine smile, Ginny rushed forward and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, holding him close and saying, "I thought you were _dead_. I was sure that you hated me, and then you gave me that book, and I figured it all out and I wanted to tell you so badly, but you were _gone_, and then Riddle said I made the basilisk attack you but I really didn't know I was doing it, and he was so good about it. He brewed the potion and now you're here and safe, and _I am so sorry."_

Ginny took a deep breath and backed away quickly, her face deep red. She'd had a problem with babbling when she was _twelve_. Now, when she was supposed to be having a serious conversation with Gellert Grindelwald's nephew, that little problem just _had _to pop back up.

"Er, sorry."

"Ginny," Mason said slowly, sounding amused. Not Riddle amused, but warm, happy amused. "Give me a second... I'm tired, and..." He flexed his fingers out in front of him, almost like he was amazed they were still there. "And very, very confused." He looked her over, his eyes stopping on her necklace- Riddle hadn't tucked it back under her shirt after he'd grabbed it- before returning to her face, a little wider than before. "I think... I think we really, really need to talk."


	52. Not So Crazy Conclusions

"Right," said Ginny. "We do need to talk. About a lot of things, but I _hope _that Riddle is waiting outside the Chamber, because I don't know the way back up if he isn't. So maybe we should leave first, and then, uh, discuss everything that's going on, and whatever... whatever has you looking at me like that."

Mason nodded, and then hesitantly asked, his eyes suspiciously taking in the Chamber with wide, sweeping movements, "How long... How long have I been petrified?"

"Three weeks or so," answered Ginny.

"Three weeks," Mason said, exhaling. "And Riddle escorted you down here, so... you're still pretending to go out with him?"

Ginny looked down at her feet. This wasn't quite the conversation she'd been wanting to have with him, and even though just having him awake and back was making her ridiculously happy, she wasn't really eager to get him mad at her quite so quickly.

"Er. No," Ginny coughed. "I actually _am _with him. Like not pretending."

"Not pretending," repeated Mason slowly. Ginny swore that he was going to be angry, but either he was really tired, or, more likely, he'd seen this coming, because he only blinked one more time before nodding his head slowly. "I can't say that I wasn't expecting something like that, after what you told me earlier. But you haven't..."

Mason looked towards the door of the Chamber and trailed off, probably worrying about Riddle's presence.

"Let's get back to Riddle," said Ginny quickly. "Before he leaves. If he's still here. But we can go for a walk afterwards, if you want."

"A walk," repeated Mason. "Yeah. I'd like that. Fresh air and everything. I suppose need to talk to Professor Dumbledore as well..."

"He thinks you're with your mom," Ginny supplied. "Er, Riddle kind of forged a note in your handwriting to explain your disappearance. After Myrtle's death, he didn't want anyone to panic and shut the school down. Which I completely understand."

"I... I understand," said Mason, "but, slowly this time, can you please tell me what happened?"

"Later," Ginny said. She looked around slowly and swallowed. Without Riddle next to her, the Chamber became a lot more frightening. A place where she _wasn't _safe. "Can we please go now?"

Mason evidently still wanted answers, but he could no doubt tell that lingering in the Chamber wasn't the smartest idea. With a slow nod, he began walking towards the door, rather unsteadily and a little slowly. Ginny hovered closely behind him, ready to catch him if he stumbled or fell, but he never did. Like he hadn't just woken up after three weeks of living as a statue, Mason didn't even look back as he made his way towards the door, and then as he pushed it back to reveal the maze-like tunnels that led to the Chamber.

Ginny released a little relieved breath when she saw that Riddle was still leaning back against one of the walls outside of the Chamber. She'd forgotten to ask him to stay behind and he hadn't said that he would, but thankfully he seemed to understand that Ginny wouldn't have had the faintest idea of how to get back up to the lavatories without his help.

Mason's shoulders tensed a bit when he saw Riddle, and any tiredness that had been in his posture previously evaporated in an instant. It was the first time that Ginny had ever seen the two of them actively interact with each other, or even directly acknowledge each other, and Mason changed so much that Ginny could almost see him turn back into the Death Eater he'd been just a couple years ago, his eyes hardening and his posture stiffening until he actually looked like he could be related to Gellert Grindelwald.

"I figured I should wait," said Riddle after a long, tense silence. He looked at Ginny. "I doubted you would remember how to get back without my help, and I was rather curious to see if either of you had anything interesting to say."

"Riddle-" Ginny started, mortified, but the Head Boy was already looking at Mason.

"You're looking better, McCreery."

"With your help, I hear," Mason said stiffly.

"I hope you're not flattering yourself into thinking I did it for you." _  
><em>

"I'd never be that stupid," retorted Mason.

"You've already betrayed me," said Riddle, as if that simple act took entirely disproved Mason's claim.

"I wasn't willing to support murder."

"I know someone who would disagree."

"Riddle," Ginny interrupted. "Please just take us back up to the sinks, before you two kill each other."

The two boys stared each other down, but Mason backed down after a few seconds, looking away and letting out a low breath that just barely betrayed how tired he really was.

"Right," said Riddle. He didn't relax like Mason had. If anything, Ginny thought that he was even more tense, more ready to snap if necessary. She wasn't sure if it was because he had been so honest with her before, when they'd first gotten to the Chamber, or if it had more to do with Mason's presence, a presence that Ginny was sure Riddle didn't trust or appreciate. "McCreery, I am sure you would not be opposed to subjecting yourself to a temporary blinding spell for a few short minutes."

Ginny wanted to argue, and by the look on his face, it was pretty clear that Mason did too, but neither of them bothered. Ginny knew better. Riddle's Chamber was sacred to him, something that was his and his alone, and he wasn't going to take the chance that Mason could ruin that for him.

"No," said Mason, almost managing to keep the sarcasm from his voice. "I wouldn't be opposed to it at all."

Then, bravely, in Ginny's opinion, Mason stepped forward and didn't so much as blink when Riddle waved his wand and sent what looked like a stream of black smoke straight at Mason's face. Ginny swallowed a bit when the smoke cleared and she could see that the whites of his eyes had gone completely black. It was a little unsettling, even after everything she'd seen in the war.

"Don't worry, Ginny," Mason said, somehow reading her mind. "It's not painful."

"It looks like dark magic," Ginny argued.

"If it was true dark magic, it would have eaten his eyes out," Riddle said briskly, settling the matter. Without another word, he began walking forward again, and Ginny followed quickly, backtracking after a second to grab Mason's hand and take it in her own. Ginny stumbled a bit, trying to keep up with Riddle's quick steps and guide Mason at the same time, but despite not being able to see, Mason kept up easily, not stumbling or showing any signs of tiredness at all.

In fact, with Riddle pushing the pace, Ginny was clambering up the ladder that took them back into the sinks before she knew it. Mason was right behind her, and a second after Ginny hoisted herself back up onto the bathroom floor, Mason followed.

Riddle, already on his feet, quickly hissed the sinks shut and then turned to Mason, withdrawing his spell with a smooth nonverbal movement that made what was surely an advanced hex seem like first year magic.

No one moved after that, and Ginny wasn't sure what to do. Mason obviously wanted to talk, but Riddle also didn't want Ginny and Mason to talk, not to mention that Mason was definitely tired and probably needed rest.

Finally, sensing that no one else was going to say anything, Ginny looked at Riddle and said, "I think I'm going to take Mason down to his dorm. "

Mason didn't protest, and Riddle evidently figured that not much strategizing could go on in a place like Hufflepuff basement, becuase he nodded.

"Very well. But Ginevra?"

"Yeah?" asked Ginny, trying not to sound nervous. Riddle's eyes were black as coal, and the glances he kept firing in Mason's direction made her both suspicious and uncomfortable. Riddle had always spoken about Mason with something almost like respect, if not a little disdain, so she hadn't expected their relationship to be this strained. Maybe Mason's fits about Ginny's involvement with Riddle should have clued her in, but she was still surprised that the room was so tense it seemed like a single wrong word on her part could cause either one of them to snap.

Riddle glanced at Mason and his eyes were almost burning when he said, "Remember what I said before. You have used all of your wrong moves. _Be careful_."

Swallowing, Ginny nodded and promised, "I swear, I won't make you regret this."

An obviously unconvinced Riddle said nothing as he turned on a heel and left Ginny and Mason alone. Ginny wasn't fooled, though. She wasn't going to start talking yet. Riddle could no doubt get any number of things out of Myrtle if she was listening, and she wasn't foolish enough to believe that there wouldn't be portraits assigned to watch them or Death Eaters skulking after her the second that they left the bathrooms.

"Are we really going to the basement?" Mason asked once Riddle was gone.

"You need rest," Ginny said. "Besides, it's a Friday afternoon. The place should be pretty much empty. I'll at least fill you in on the basics there."

"That... should be fine," Mason said slowly, thinking it over as he spoke. When Ginny got to her feet and offered him a hand to help him up, Mason took it gladly, smiling a little in appreciation. Ginny didn't let go as they made their way down to the kitchen corridor. She'd been so worried about Mason, that he hated her, that he was missing, or dead, or that Riddle wasn't going to cure him, that now that he _was _back, she was going to keep her friend close and try not to let anything separate them.

Ginny kept glancing over at Mason as they walked, making sure that he was okay, assuring herself that he was there. Every once in a while, Mason would meet her gaze and turn the corners of his lips up into a small smile, just trying to calm her down. Things weren't quite as easy or uncomplicated as they had been before Ginny had figured out everything about Mason's past, but they weren't terribly strained either, not like they had been right before he'd been petrified.

Like Ginny had figured, there was hardly anyone in the common room when she and Mason arrived. Just a few younger kids playing board games. Several of them stared at Mason with funny looks on their faces, but most of them were still first and second years, kids who liked Mason enough that they smiled and waved at him instead of asking questions. Mason smiled back at all of them, seeming genuinely happy about the reception that he was getting.

Once they were through the common room, Mason headed back to his dorm, pulling open the door and letting out a small sigh of relief when he found it empty. Without saying a word, he led Ginny over to his bed and sat down, scooting over a bit to give Ginny room to plop down across from him.

"We'll be safe enough here, I'm pretty sure," Mason said when they were situated. "No one has any talking portraits or anything, and all of my roommates make enough noise that we'll hear them approaching."

"You're sure?" asked Ginny, just because she had to double-check. She wasn't going to take any chances. "I know Hufflepuffs aren't eavesdroppers or anything, but this _is _life or death."

"I'm sure," Mason assured her. "And here we don't have to hide. Riddle knows exactly where we are."

"Alright," said Ginny. She trusted Mason. "Then I guess we can talk. What do you want to know first?"

"I... I suppose I want to know how I got petrified. You said something about it being your fault?"

Ginny nodded.

"Yeah. It was. I'm so, _so _sorry, and I swear that I didn't mean to, but you know that necklace I wore all the time? The one that sent me back here?"

"Yes, I remember. You aren't wearing it now."

"Riddle has it," Ginny said, cringing a bit at how bad that sounded. "He did a little research on it and it turns out that Slytherin himself made the thing. To make a long story short, his essence was apparently so strong in the necklace, that it overrode Riddle's control of the basilisk and had the thing react to my impulses instead... so when I was mad at you, the basilisk chased you."

"And Riddle has this now?" asked Mason.

"You didn't see the way he was looking at it. I didn't _want _to give it to him, but he would've taken it anyway, I'm sure of it. Besides-" Ginny held up Riddle's Horcrux for Mason to see, "- he gave me this in return, so I do trust him not to do anything too stupid with it."

"Speaking of that ring," said Mason slowly, "I take it that you found the story I wanted you to read."

"Speaking of the ring? What does that have to do with-" Mason shook his head and waved Ginny forward, and Ginny, after a short hesitation, said, "Uh, yeah. I found it. The Three Brothers. You want me to do something with the Deathly Hallows."

"They're never called that in the story," Mason said. "Where did you hear that term?" _  
><em>

"I told Orion Black a lot of this stuff... pretty much as much as you know, actually. I even have him on kill-Riddle duty in the event that I die, which isn't entirely unlikely given certain events, but those aren't important. We'll talk about that later. Right now, I would really, really like to know why you bothered telling me about all this."

"I... I'm not sure," Mason admitted slowly. "Orion would've known... he told you about the real three brothers, right? The Peverells?"

"Uh-huh."

"My uncle, uh, Grindelwald... he was fascinated by the story, by their inventions, so I grew up surrounded by theories on the Hallows. So I'd heard the name Peverell a lot, enough to know that the line was thought to have died out a long time ago. I knew that my uncle had the wand, that Charlus Potter had the cloak, and I've always had an idea about the stone, so I didn't want information... I was really just curious about you, to start out with.

"After you told me that Peverell wasn't your real last name, that Dumbledore sent you back in time to kill Riddle, I kind of started wondering why he'd give you a name that's so suspicious. After a bit, I think I kind of guessed that it was a hint. To me."

"Because you'd be good help? That doesn't make sense."

Mason looked down.

"No, I think... he wanted me to start talking to you, but he wanted _you _to befriend me. We both know that Avery wouldn't have quit if you hadn't cursed him that day, that I would have died, and Dumbledore... my first guess was that he just wanted one more life saved."

"And your second?"

"Knowing... things that I know about Dumbledore and Grindelwald... I think he wants you to destroy them. At least the ones you can get. Like I said, Grindelwald has the wand, I'm almost positive, and I know Dumbledore is going to have to duel him and at least try to win that back, so you don't have to worry about that. But the cloak and the stone... if I were you, I would either give them to Dumbledore, or I would destroy them."

"I already stole the cloak from Charlus, and I refuse-"

"You _have _the cloak?" Mason asked with wide eyes.

"Yes, but it's not mine. It means a lot to him, Mason, and I won't destroy it. Besides, Riddle can use disillusionment charms anyway. He doesn't need the cloak for anything. Just let me give it back to Charlus and it won't hurt anybody."

It was obvious that Mason disagreed, but instead he let the subject drop and went on, saying, "Then the stone. Destroy that."

"I don't _have _it!"

"Ginny," Mason said softly, gesturing to his neck. It took her a moment to realize what he was talking about, but then Ginny's eyes widened as she slowly looked down to see Riddle's ring hanging from around her neck. "That symbol on the stone... that's the sign of the Hallows. Riddle had the Resurrection Stone all along, and now you have it. That is probably the most dangerous in his hands. If nothing else, you _have _to get rid of that."

Ginny balked. Riddle had admitted to giving her that ring to try to tempt her into destroying it, to test her trust. As long as the ring was safe, Riddle knew that Ginny hadn't turned against him completely. As opposed to destroying it as Ginny had been before, the idea almost disgusted her now. She'd been going against Riddle way too much the last few weeks, but killing a piece of his soul just because it was hiding in a ring with powers that he had _no idea about? _That was crossing a line that Ginny refused to even get close to.

"No," Ginny said. "Maybe Dumbledore just wanted you alive. Maybe he didn't even think about you when he gave me my last name. I don't know, but just because he dropped some random hint doesn't mean that he wants me to _destroy _all of them. That's stupid!"

"No one has ever had all three Hallows in one place," Mason said, his voice rising a bit, "but it's rumored that if anyone possesses all three of them, they can cheat _death. _Do you even want there to be a possibility that Riddle could to that?"

"He already has with his Horcruxes. The worst thing that could happen would be that he finds the Hallows and stays alive in a less-gruesome way. Besides, he's _changing_, I swear. Maybe it won't even be a problem in a few years, and then all of this will be a waste."

Mason was already on his feet, shaking his head.

"Ginny, with just that _stone_, he could potentially have armies of dead-"

"He doesn't need the bloody stone for that!" Ginny interrupted angrily. She got to her feet, not wanting to continue this conversation. She wasn't mad at Mason, not really. He was doing what Harry would have. The right, safe thing. Ginny was going with her heart, no matter how dangerous it was. "I've seen him control thousands of Inferi and _worse_. Besides, he doesn't even know what the stone can do. To him, it's just a... just a..."

"That's one of his Horcruxes, isn't it?"

"Mason, no-"

"You have a mangled piece of soul and your wearing it like a necklace? Ginny, this is crazy."

Ginny turned around and started out of the room. Mason was right. It was crazy. But that didn't mean that she was going to back off on her decision. Riddle was bad, but not enough to deserve to be killed for it. Not now.

"This is what we fought about before. I thought you understood that I was through with the mission," Ginny said, hesitating in front of the door. "Remember? Right before you were petrified, we had this exact same conversation, and then you wrote in that letter that you were working on distinguishing between the necessary and the right. You obviously didn't do a very good job."

"There is _nothing _right about a ring that can raise the dead."

Ginny put her hand on the doorknob, shaking her head as she did so.

"It's not about that. It's about trust, and Riddle is one person who sees honesty as _everything_. I'm not going to touch his ring, and if you want to destroy it so badly, then you'll have to take it from me by force, because I'm not betraying Riddle."

She opened the door as Mason said, "So that's it? Your done with the mission?"

"It isn't even a choice anymore," Ginny said, shaking her head. "Yes, I'm done with it. Maybe you were hoping I'd change my mind, but I haven't. Riddle means a lot to me, and I just... can't hurt him. Sorry."

"Ginny-" started Mason, but Ginny was already walking away, shutting his door behind her. Maybe Mason was right and the ring could be beyond horrible in Riddle's hands, but she _couldn't _destroy it, and the idea of burning Charlus's cloak was just as ridiculous. She'd give Riddle the ring back in exchange for her necklace, sneak Charlus's cloak back into his drawer, and push the Hallows out of her mind.

Ginny let out a low, stressed breath, not paying attention to where she was going until she almost ran straight into Allison.

"Oh, sorry," Ginny said quickly. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

Allison shook her head a little.

"Was that Mason you were just talking to?" she asked lightly. There was something a little off in her voice, but Allison was never normal around Mason. Ginny didn't think twice about it.

"Uh, yeah. He was just visiting family, but he's back now. We kind of fought a bit, but... why are you looking at me like that?"

"Family?" asked Allison.

"His mother," Ginny clarified confusedly. There was something not right. Someone really, really not right. Ginny quickly ran over the last few sentences she'd just exchanged with Mason, with the door open, and tried to think of something that Allison could have overheard that would sound really bad, but actually, when Ginny thought about it, it almost sounded more like Mason was begging her to leave Riddle for him. The only thing that was suspicious in the least was the mission thing, and Allison had no reason to leap to any crazy conclusions about that.

"Oh," said Allison. "Right." She smiled, but it was off. "Sorry I ran into you. I was just grabbing a jumper to wear outside; Michael's taking me for a walk and... I'll just see you later, okay?"

Ginny stared in shock as Allison walked hurriedly out of the common room, the jumper that she'd just talked about no where in sight.

There was something off. The fear in Allison's eyes. How nervous she was. The way she _always _acted around Mason. It was almost like she _did _have a reason to leap to crazy conclusions.

Then, suddenly, Ginny remember Mason's words from their conversation just a couple months ago.

_"Then I saw her. Our eyes met, and I don't know how much she heard, but I just knew that I couldn't let her get away. Riddle had been talking like I'd done everything, and I knew how much trouble I would be in if she said anything. My first instinct was to fire a killing curse… so I did._

Merlin. She was an idiot. It was _so _obvious, but she would have figured that Mason would've told her, that he would have said something, that _Allison _would have said something...

Except they didn't, and Allison had just heard Mason talk about a mission and Ginny talk about hurting Riddle and who knows what else, and now she was probably running... running to Riddle, who she _had _to have seen as another one of Mason's victims. Someone he was trying to hurt and who needed to be helped.

And Riddle would figure it out. Allison would tell him about the conversation, and Riddle would know right away what Ginny was supposed to be doing.

Ginny cursed loudly enough that the few younger kids in the common room froze to stare at her, but she didn't care. She was already sprinting out of the common room, running like her life depended on it.

In a way, it kind of did.


	53. In the Open

Allison had disappeared. Thanks to Fred and George- and then, later on, to standard war-time procedure- Ginny knew almost every secret passage in the school. She knew the quickest way to get from place to place and was sure that she would've been able to cut Allison off several times, but it seemed like the castle had swallowed the other Hufflepuff whole.

It'd taken Ginny too long to put the pieces together, and so, after a few minutes of searching for Allison, she began tearing off for the Head's common room instead. Even if she did somehow, by some miracle, manage to beat Allison there, the situation would be so suspicious that Riddle wouldn't hesitate to figure out what Allison had to say, no matter how much Ginny pleaded with him to ignore her. Ginny was too late and her heart plummeted at the knowledge.

It was all over. She'd failed. Riddle was going to kill her, and then, later on, all of her friends and family- everyone that she'd ever loved, all because she'd been too stupid to see what was right in front of her face. Allison had warned Ginny away from Mason from the first time that his name was mentioned, and Ginny had underestimated her friend- her friend who was nice to _everyone_- enough to think that it was for the stupid, shallow reason that Mason was strange.

Still, despite knowing that it was too late, Ginny pushed herself faster, tearing up a staircase and almost running into several statues as she took corners too close. Ginny didn't think she'd ever moved so fast in her life, but when she heard voices as she approached the portrait hole, her heart still broke a little. She hadn't fooled herself into thinking she could get there on time, but this undeniable proof that she was too late absolutely killed her.

Now with feet like lead, Ginny trampled the rest of the way to the portrait. Her legs ached and her lungs were burning after having run so fast so far, but she hardly noticed in the light of the worry that was eating away at her gut. Riddle wouldn't do anything as long as Allison was there, and, maybe if Ginny used her words well enough, she could manage to stay alive- to leave Riddle hating her rather than murdering her, but the chance was so slim that Ginny half figured she might as well not try at all.

"Are you okay?" the pretty girl in the portrait asked. Ginny only shook her head.

"I won't be," she muttered under the breath, before collecting herself a little and saying the password in a louder, clearer voice.

Everything went silent.

Ginny looked up and saw a calm, smiling Riddle kneeling in front of Allison, who was sitting in one of the overstuffed leather chairs with tears in her eyes.

"Allison, please ignore her and go on," Riddle said, gently reaching out and settling his fingers under Allison's chin, making her look up and into his eyes. Orion had mentioned Riddle practicing Occulamency, and with Allison trusting him so whole-heartedly and freaking out like she was, a first year could probably find his way into her head.

"I-I-" Allison hiccupped. She blinked several times.

"Mason wants Ginny to hurt me," Riddle said smoothly. He leaned a little bit closer to Allison, and Ginny's hands tightened into angry fists when he exhaled right next to her lips, breathing, "What else, Allison?"

For a second, Ginny was frozen, but when it sunk in that her boyfriend was practically seducing the truth out of her best girl friend, she stalked forward, demanding, "Riddle! Let her go!"

But Riddle wasn't listening. He was gazing into Allison's eyes in a way that would've made Ginny jealous if she didn't know exactly what was going on.

Angrily, Ginny stalked forward and grabbed Riddle by his tie, yanking the Head Boy so that he was facing her, looking into _her _eyes instead of Allison's.

"_What _are you doing?" she hissed, grabbing onto his tie more tightly when Riddle tried to snatch it out of her hands.

"Allison," Riddle said- Ginny could hear him struggling to remain polite enough to use her first name- "Please leave us now."

"B-but-"

"I have everything that I can get from you," said Riddle. "Now let me speak with Ginevra."

"Ginny wasn't d-doing anything," Allison cried, making Ginny want to go over and give her friend a huge hug. Even if she was angry at Allison for not keeping her mouth shut- whether or not it was actually her fault- it was still nice to have someone supporting her. Still... Ginny was almost glad that Riddle wanted Allison gone. Even if Allison's presence would keep Riddle in check, Ginny didn't want the Head Boy to keep messing with her. "She said she _c_-_couldn't_ h-hurt you. It w-was Mason."

"I know," Riddle said smoothly- so smoothly that Ginny knew he wasn't telling the truth. "I don't blame Ginevra for any of this. I just need to speak to her alone."

Ginny took a deep breath and, with what she hoped wasn't too forced of a smile, told Allison, "Don't worry, really. I knew you overheard us, and I don't blame you for coming to Riddle. We'll just need to talk for a little while, and everything will be fine."

Allison took a deep breath.

"Okay." She backed away, her eyes trained on Ginny, who was still holding on to Riddle's tie, and then turned and darted out the portrait hole.

The second that she was gone, Riddle ripped his tie away from Ginny with more strength than she thought he had and then got briskly to his feet. Ginny didn't dare to move as he stalked away from her, any pretense of calm completely evaporated. He kicked over a coffee table. Cursed under his breath. Waved a hand and sent several chairs crashing into a bookshelf with wandless, nonverbal magic that Ginny didn't know if Dumbledore could manage.

All while Ginny stood in the middle of the room with shaking hands and wide eyes.

"_Mission_," said Riddle lowly, dangerously. He spun on his heel to look at Ginny, and Ginny balked when she saw that his beautiful gray eyes had gone crimson. "Your friend tells me that you are on a _mission_."

Ginny shook her head furiously, but couldn't find the words to contradict what he was saying, to say anything at all to make this sound better than he was making it out to be.

"You came to this school in decidedly unlikely circumstances. The first time we met, you were terrified of me though I gave you absolutely no reason to be. When you learned what I had done to Mulciber, you were strangely unsurprised," Riddle said lowly, so easily that Ginny knew he'd thought all of this over numerous times before.

"I-" Ginny squeaked out, but Riddle took a giant step closer to her, and Ginny shut her mouth immediately. She was hardly afraid of anything anymore, after living with so much fear for so long during the war, but a raving Tom Riddle, no matter how much he had changed, was one of the most dangerous things she could think of. It would be stupid not to be terrified.

"Orion told you that I was suspicious, and I have no doubt that he also specified exactly what it was that I was suspicious of. That necklace you gave me, a necklace with a legendary amount of magic stored inside, has very, very little of that original magic left. As I'm sure you have heard, time travel is one of the very few acts that could have rendered such a powerful artifact useless to me."

"No one said anything about-" Ginny blurted, finding her voice for the first time and cringing at how high it came out.

"What else could it be?" Riddle interrupted harshly. He stepped forward again, and Ginny backed up accordingly, knowing that there was a wall only a few steps behind her. He was going to have her trapped if he kept moving forward. "A _mission_, Ginevra, and one that entails bringing me harm. Wherever you came from, I was well-known enough to prompt you to come to Hogwarts and put yourself in danger- danger that you were obviously well aware of- to get close enough to harm me." He smirked and bitingly finished, "Somehow, I doubt that the current wizarding population of _Norwich _fears me quite so strongly."

Ginny didn't know what to say to that. She'd been right about Riddle figuring everything out. Of course, it wasn't surprising that he did, not in the least. The Head Boy was the smartest person that she knew, and he'd already been suspicious enough as it was.

"Speechless?" asked Riddle. He bit out a venomous laugh. "_That's _a first." He took a shaking breath and, looking straight at Ginny, demanded, "As I am obviously correct, give me one reason why I should not kill you right now."

"Allison-"

"I'll wipe her memory," Riddle interrupted strongly.

"No," Ginny said, shaking her head. She tried to speak, but lost her voice for a moment. Riddle looked on with false amusement as she rallied herself enough to say, "I was going to say that Allison… Allison _told _you it wasn't my fault. You were digging through her head... you know what I said to Mason. That I _w-wouldn't _hurt you."

Riddle laughed her words off like they were ridiculous.

"Does that matter now? You're a Hufflepuff! I've no doubt that you are simply too weak and pathetic to complete your mission. Or perhaps you haven't found a way to destroy my Horcrux and are discouraged. Either way, no matter what your position is on harming me now, you came to this school with the intent to, most probably, _kill _me. You lied to me and manipulated me and were dangerously close to convincing me that the blather coming out of your mouth was true. I hardly think that any current inability on your part compels me to pardon you for humiliating and degrading me-"

Ginny closed her eyes for a moment. This was everything that she'd done wrong all pouring down on her at once, all of the things that she'd felt guilty about laughing in her face because Riddle was _right_. She'd been a liar and a hypocrite and even though he was wrong about the reasons she still wanted him alive, it hardly mattered that she cared so strongly for him now, not in light of what she'd done to him in the past.

She was tempted to give up and let Riddle kill her, because Ginny was certain that no arguing on her part was going to change anything, yet, the Head Girl found herself cutting Riddle off, saying in a fairly composed voice, "I'm not unable to do anything. Or at least I wasn't."

Riddle stopped talking.

"I mean, maybe I was, but I could have destroyed your Horcrux if I'd wanted."

"No you couldn't have-"

"I have a sword," Ginny said. "Gryffindor's sword. And it's infused with basilisk venom- one of the things that can destroy Horcruxes. So, if I really wanted to kill you, I could have trashed your ring."

Riddle looked surprised at this for an instant, but it didn't take him three seconds to think up an argument.

"You'd need both my Horcruxes to kill me. You don't have my other one, and destroying the ring would take away any opportunity you would have of getting it. My ring is intact only because you were biding your time-"

"I _wasn't_, I swear," Ginny argued, pleadingly now. "I still could have destroyed it, and then… and then snuck the location of the other one out of you. With Veritaserum or something."

"And then what? I have your necklace. You would not get back to your own time without it…" Riddle trailed off, then shook his head. "No. You wouldn't. The necklace has so little power left in it that you would be trapped here anyway. I suppose that is one thing in your favor, although it hardly matters in light of the dozens of things you have against you."

Ginny's blood went cold at Riddle's words as he blankly stated something that he thought she already knew. She didn't know what she'd been thinking when people had been talking about how little juice there was left in that necklace, but the possibility that there would be too little to send her back to the future had never occurred to her. She'd always figured that Dumbledore would have known better, that whatever trick he'd pulled that linked Riddle's death with the necklace would release an extra burst of energy or something, but there was something about the way that Riddle spoke, like he knew the chance of Ginny's getting back to the future was absolutely zero, that had Ginny believing he was right.

Maybe it was stupid, but she almost wondered if Dumbledore hadn't known this would happen. Befriending and then killing someone really wasn't his style, and really, his reasons for choosing Ginny to come back had been flimsy at best…

Had Dumbledore picked her not to kill Riddle, but to save him? Did he sense that, after everything that had happened her first year, Ginny would somehow be able to reach him when no one else could? Had he lied to get her to go back in the first place, fully realizing that killing Riddle would eventually make her almost as sick as the thought of taking out any of her other friends?

It was such a Dumbledore thing to do that Ginny wasn't sure. It was rather manipulative, but Dumbledore tended to be so positive that his way was the right one that sometimes he didn't consider that it might not be the one someone else wanted. Ginny couldn't even fault him for it, however, because, more often than not, he was right.

Unfortunately, even though Ginny now had an unending amount of questions, it definitely wasn't the time to be thinking about any of them. "So you admit that I could have destroyed your necklace and then extracted the location of your diary from you by force?" asked Ginny, getting her mind back on track.

"It is a possibility."

"You wouldn't care either way, would you?"

"Not in the slightest."

Ginny took a deep, frustrated breath, one that exhaled out into a sob that she desperately tried to cover up with a choked-sounding cough.

"I… I know you're mad that I've been lying to you, but I swear that I haven't been wanting to kill you for a long, long time. I mean… almost the first time that we really talked, I realized that you weren't totally heartless, and you're so smart and… and _you_, that I started actually liking you, and I've seen you as a friend for a while now...

"And really, all I was supposed to do was gain your trust enough to get your Horcruxes, but I did more than that, didn't I? I wouldn't have had to bother with the whole 'going out' thing, or the Christmas presents, or going down to the Chamber with you, if I didn't really, actually care about you. You _know _that you were trusting me anyway- you trusted me at least a little bit almost right from the start- and even though I screwed up badly, I can't believe that you actually think I can act well enough that you wouldn't have noticed at _some _point."

Riddle tensed.

"I do think that you can act that well," he said sharply, after a second.

"If you knew what you'd eventually become, you would know I wouldn't kiss you unless I really liked you," Ginny said desperately. "That I wouldn't stand you any more than necessary unless I genuinely cared for you."

For a moment the Head Boy didn't say anything, and then, angrily, in a voice laced with fury and just a little bit of what Ginny thought was hurt and betrayal, Riddle lowly accused, "I _trusted _you."

That was all he needed to say. Those three words indicated that it didn't matter what Ginny felt or what was or wasn't real. She'd still used and deceived and manipulated Riddle. The base of their relationship was lies, and she'd been feeding him constant crap for the last few weeks. Riddle had trusted her more than he had any other human being _ever_, and Ginny had to go and throw it right back in his face.

More than being afraid, Ginny absolutely hated herself at that moment, probably even more than Riddle hated her. From the first second that the Head Boy started showing any sign of decency, she had worried about what she was doing, how much of a backstabbing phony she was turning herself into, but she'd kept plowing forward anyway.

Ginny took a deep breath and closed her eyes as what she had done really sunk in.

"I- I know," she whispered, "and I'm sorry. I messed up, and, crazy as it is, you've treated me so much better than I've treated you." She took out her wand and closed her eyes for a second before looking up and locking eyes with Riddle. "I don't have anything else to say, and I haven't given you a reason not to kill me, so go ahead. Try. I _dare _you."

"Very well, Ginevra."

Riddle raised his wand, and Ginny held hers loosely in her hands, fully intending to defend herself and yet not able to move when he moved his hand in a familiar motion and lowly, angrily said, "Avada Kedavra."

Ginny's legs might as well have been made of lead. Green light filled the room, and she simply stood there, petrified and absolutely sure that she was going to die.

The curse crashed into a bookshelf five feet to Ginny's right. Far enough off that there was no way that the shot missed by accident.

Ginny looked up to see Riddle looking at her with loathing so deep that she felt it all the way down to her bones.

"Go," he growled, looking at her like it was her fault that she was still alive. "Stay with your Hufflepuff friends, bunk with _Orion Black_. I don't _care_. Just get _out of here_."

"Riddle-" started Ginny.

"_NOW!" _

Shaken with surprise, Ginny quickly moved towards the portrait hole, not bothering to grab anything from her room; she wasn't going to risk the chance that Riddle would change his mind. At the last second, Ginny remembered Riddle's ring and, with shaking hands, pulled the chain from around her head and tossed it behind her, glancing over her shoulder and saying, "Keep that away from Mason. He wants to destroy it. And… and that sword I was talking about… it's in my top drawer. If you want to make sure I don't use it."

Then Ginny opened the portrait and began walking away, her heart beating quickly and her hands shaking. She had no idea why she was still alive or what she was going to do, but did know that she'd just been given a free pass. Riddle hadn't killed her, and even though Ginny was clueless as to why, just that little knowledge gave her a faint sliver of hope.

Of course, the look of pure loathing on Riddle's face pushed that aside in an instant, and although Ginny _was _relieved that she wasn't dead, she was also devastated. Ginny had never realized how much she _needed _Riddle. If he did stick with his decision to leave her alive, the Head Boy would disappear from her life entirely.

There wouldn't be any more walks with him to breakfast. He wouldn't stare at her in classes. Wouldn't smirk or make any acerbic comments that had Ginny grinning or laughing at his strange sense of what could almost be considered humor. There wouldn't be any more kisses- not like there were many of those in the first place-, no more handholding or talking or sitting by each other. He wouldn't bother visiting Addison with her anymore, help with homework would be a far off dream, and those strange moments when she surprised him with the better aspects of human nature would have dissolved entirely.

Every step that Ginny took brought on another thing that she would miss about Riddle, and every new thing made it harder and harder to keep herself from crying.

It was almost surprising that she didn't run into anyone sooner, with how distracted she was, but Ginny still didn't expect it when she rounded a corner and only avoided bumping into someone because they reached out and caught her shoulders with their hands.

"Ginny?"

Ginny swallowed hard and looked up to find herself staring into Abraxas's Malfoy's concerned blue eyes. His voice was tentative because Orion had ordered him away from her to try to keep Riddle happy, as stupid as that seemed now, and Ginny knew that he was going to run away as soon as possible- he always listened to Orion, and now he thought it would help her if he left her alone, so of course he wasn't going to stick around- but Ginny reached out and grabbed his arm before he got the chance to make an escape, holding tightly enough that she doubted he could get away if he tried.

He didn't. With his free hand, Abraxas reached for Ginny's chin and tilted her face a little, then asked, "Are you crying?"

"No," Ginny said, shaking her head. She wasn't. She was holding back tears. There was a difference. "I'm just… I'm…"

She had to stop.

"Ginny," said Abraxas. "You don't cry..." He trailed off, then his eyes lit with realization, his voice turning angry as he asked, "_What _did Riddle do?"

"Nothing."

"This _isn't _nothing," Abraxas argued fiercely. "Merlin, you look like you just faced death itself and escaped." Ginny blanched, and Abraxas didn't miss it. "_Ginny_! Tell me what's going on."

Ginny blinked several times and looked at Abraxas. She felt dazed and confused, but a small part of her brain registered that he was someone she could trust, someone who wouldn't get tangled up in her mission like Mason, or who would try to listen and understand instead of attempt to solve her problems or get himself deeper in the action like she felt Orion did occasionally.

Maybe it wasn't very smart, but the secret was out anyway, so Ginny grabbed Abraxas's arm, led him into an abandoned classroom, and let him hold her while she told him everything. Not just the facts like she did with Mason or Orion, but Ginny went way back and blabbered about Harry and her friends and what Voldemort did, and then up to where Dumbledore asked for her help, and through all of her first conversations with Riddle and when she started feeling guilty, where she began realizing she didn't hate him, how confused she was when Abraxas mentioned Riddle's jealousy, and then how she felt when Riddle finally kissed her. She told him about the diary, how she'd fallen in love with that piece of Riddle and how scared she was about doing it again, but how she couldn't get him out of her head since then, and how now that Riddle had said that the necklace couldn't bring her home, she wondered whether or not Dumbledore had planned this all from the beginning.

To Abraxas's credit, he never interrupted. He just stared at Ginny in shock as she went through most of her life, her entire mission, and everything that had led her up to that point. Even if she and Abraxas hadn't spoken for a while, even if she'd kind of pushed him away when her mission had started catching up with her, Ginny still trusted him wholeheartedly enough that she said everything without restraint, that she never once doubted what she was doing.

When Ginny was finally finished, Abraxas closed his eyes and exhaled quietly, his entire face even more pale than usual, ghostly white like she had never seen it.

"He still cares about you," Abraxas finally said. "You aren't dead, and that means there's at least a tiny part of Riddle that doesn't completely hate you. This will work out; I swear it will, but… I don't think you should push it now. You can sleep in Slytherin's common room if you're fighting with Mason and not interesting in seeing Allison. Orion will make sure no one messes with you, and I doubt any of Riddle's friends have heard about what happened yet, so they'll still be wary of hurting you. Then… we'll figure something else out. Okay, Ginny?"

And that was it. No more questions, no suggestions, no 'Are you mad?'s. Ginny hugged Abraxas tightly, no longer quite on the verge of tears, and then nodded.

"Yeah," she said hoarsely. "That'll be great."

Abraxas forced a smile- one that was nervous and a little weak, but still bright enough that Ginny gave him a little smile back. He sounded so sure when he said that Riddle still cared about her, that not everything was lost, that Ginny forced herself to believe him.

If he was right, if there was still a chance, no matter how small, Ginny was going to take it and hold on with everything she had to make sure that it didn't go away. She hadn't realized it before, not when she had Riddle and everything was great, but now that he didn't trust her, that things were falling apart so quickly, Ginny fully understood that she _couldn't _let the Heir of Slytherin slip away.


	54. Defining Love and Hate

When she woke up the next morning, Ginny was completely and entirely ready to talk to Tom Riddle.

Like Abraxas had promised, Orion had kicked everyone out of the common room the previous night with a few well-chosen words and some (supposedly) harmless sparks fired suspiciously close to the people who hadn't immediately listened to him. Then, to Ginny's shock, both Orion and Abraxas had stayed out in the common room with her. Abraxas filled Orion in while Ginny pretended to sleep, and, even several hours later, when she finally pushed her thoughts away enough that she actually _did _fall asleep, they had still been there.

Now, Ginny realized as she sat up and peeled her eyes open, Abraxas had disappeared somewhere, but Orion had stayed right there, sleepy-looking and strangely disheveled- even for him- but awake.

"Wow," Ginny said, surprised. She tiredly rubbed her eyes. "I didn't realize you cared so much."

"It's for Abraxas," Orion said, even though Ginny could tell he was lying. "Anyway, you're looking better. Frighteningly determined, actually."

"I can't lose Riddle," Ginny said, her voice ringing with the conviction that she'd somehow managed to scrounge up the night before. Now that she wasn't so drained, now that there wasn't the fear and hurt from the day before still buzzing so strongly in the back of her head, she figured she'd be able to actually act on it. "I have to go change his mind."

"Alright." Orion shrugged. "Don't know if Riddle's mind _can _be changed, but seeing as you're somehow still alive after last night, I suppose it's worth a shot. Do you want me to talk to Dumbledore? So that he'll know it's Riddle if you turn up dead?"

Ginny shivered a little at how serious Orion was. Of course she knew that Riddle killing her was a possibility, but he really didn't have to mention it so casually.

"Oh, don't give me that look." Orion snorted. "I doubt he's going to kill you, and, even if you do wind up dead, at least you'll know you died for love, right?"

"I don't think it counts when it's the person you love who kills you," Ginny said dryly. Orion raised a brow, obviously amused. It took Ginny a couple seconds to realize what she'd said and she quickly backtracked, "Not that I _love _Riddle or anything, but-"

"But," Orion said, tilting his head, "last time I heard you talking with Dumbledore-"

"_What_?"

"-it sounded like you were planning on teaching _Riddle _how to love _you." _

"How'd you hear that?" Ginny blurted, horrified. "I charmed the door-"

"I'm a Slytherin." Orion looked way too pleased with himself. "We have our ways. Did you really think I'd just leave after you purposely excluded me from what was sure to be an interesting conversation?"

Ginny stared at him with a mixture of horror and anger, but couldn't bring herself to say anything. Orion's smirk grew wider.

"I am, however, rather glad that I did happen to listen. Maybe Riddle's right in hating you, if you're so keen on getting his love when you're obviously disgusted at the idea of loving him back-"

"I just wanted to know if there was a _possibility_," Ginny said, finally finding her voice to defend herself. "You know, in case I ever _did _fall in love with him, which I haven't yet… we haven't known each other long enough, and he's Riddle, and _Merlin_, why are you talking about this _now_?"

Orion chuckled, looking disgustingly pleased with himself. Ginny had to clench her fists against the urge to punch him in the face, just for his stupid self-satisfied expression.

"Abraxas didn't say much to me last night, but by the way he was talking, it sounded like you had quite the time standing there and just _taking_ all the accusations Riddle was throwing at you." His eyes shone. "I was just making sure you still _could _fight back."

"But everything Riddle said was true!" Ginny protested. "How was I supposed to fight back when he was right?"

"Perhaps he _was _right," Orion allowed. "However, did you ever stop to think that you have more than your fair share of accusations that you could toss back in his direction?"

"I don't want him to hate me more."

"You also don't want him to think that you're a gutless Hufflepuff. Just fight back, Weasel. You have an easy enough time doing it with me."

"No offense, but this… it's not as important to me."

"All the reason to fight even harder."

"What do _you _care anyway?"

Orion raised a brow.

"I said we were friends last time we chatted, didn't I? Helping a friend and saving the world in one go? Why _wouldn't _I care? Besides, I wouldn't mind hearing that you tore Riddle a new one either. Just don't get killed doing it."

Ginny didn't have anything to say to that. Orion's eyes glinted with victory.

"Oh, and the look on your face when I mentioned you loving Riddle?" Orion barked out a laugh. "_Priceless_. There was definitely a personal amusement factor involved in this conversation as well-"

"Do you remember what Abraxas looked like on the day that I dumped him?" Ginny cut in. "You know, after he got hexed?"

Orion stiffened almost imperceptibly and he visibly swallowed before forcing a smile onto his face.

"I think I _will _speak with Dumbledore." He got to his feet. "Actually... never mind. I won't. Riddle would get tossed in Azkaban, so you'd be mad at me, and, well... I wouldn't be interested in seeing him when the bastard inevitably finds his way out. I'll just go to breakfast instead. Before you get violent."

"Orion, I was just kidding-" Ginny started, but he was already leaving.

"Abraxas is trying to convince Cassie to lend you some old robes. Once you're dressed, go talk to Riddle. I'm interested in hearing about the outcome of your conversation. If you've gotten over wanting to hex me by then, of course."

Ginny muttered something under her breath, but took a seat on the couch that she had slept on, more worked up _now _than she had been before. It was _so _annoying, that Orion had picked such a touchy subject to talk about at such a horrible time, and only to see whether or not she would get mad at him. Merlin! As if 'love' and 'Tom Riddle' should even be spoken in the same sentence. It was ridiculous.

Before Ginny could think on it much more, Abraxas returned to the common room with a pair of silk robes in his arms.

"Oh, good," he said when he saw Ginny. "You're awake. I was just grabbing you something to wear- although the robes are kind of, well… _Cassie's_, quite frankly. They're probably a little big, and I doubt you'd want to wear them anyway, but I'll just have you know that I risked my life for those, and-"

"I appreciate it, Abraxas," Ginny cut in, smiling a bit. Praying that Cassie didn't put any terrible jinxes on the robes, Ginny grabbed them from his arms and then gave Abraxas a quick hug. "Thanks so much, for everything. I'm gonna go talk to Riddle now, but, well… if he doesn't kill me, I'll make it up to you. Next Hogsmeade trip, I'll buy you some chocolate frogs."

Abraxas rolled his eyes and awkwardly returned the hug.

"Nothing owed." He hesitated. "And, Ginny?... Don't talk about Riddle killing you. I hate the guy, but he does like you. I saw it first, remember? It'd take an idiot to think that whatever he feels when he looks at you isn't real, and I don't think he can hurt you, not really, no matter what he's done to other people."

Ginny didn't quite agree with Abraxas, but she forced herself to shrug noncommittally. The Slytherin gave her a small smile, and then Ginny went to throw on Cassiopeia's robes. Like she had figured, they _were _too big, but Ginny supposed that she should just be thankful they weren't cursed. The Hufflepuff did a quick tailoring spell to make them fit a little bit better, and then she brushed her hair and slowly left the dungeons.

It took her forever to get up to the common room. Ginny couldn't make herself move at much more than a snail's crawl, and it was a long walk anyway. Her head swarmed with different things that she could say to Riddle, points that she could make to get him to rethink his now terrible opinion of her, deals that she could cut, bargains that she could work out, but nothing seemed like it would make any difference.

Yet, Ginny kept walking despite all that, hoping and praying that something _would_ work, and that somehow she could get Riddle to like her again.

Despite the length of the walk, Ginny couldn't help but think that it was still too soon when she reached the portrait of the little girl. Ginny uttered the password in a shaky voice and stepped into the common room, her eyes looking every which way as she did so, waiting for inevitable sharp words, or maybe even a curse, from the Head Boy.

He wasn't there. There were thick books scattered across the coffee table, but no Riddle.

Slowly, Ginny stepped towards the table and glanced over all of the books. It looked like Riddle had some kind of project going on, although Ginny couldn't tell what it was from the first few books she rested her eyes on. They all either had strange, general titles, or were in different languages that didn't tell her a thing. It wasn't until Ginny got to one of the last books on the table that her eyes widened and she swore under her breath.

The drawer that the sword of Gryffindor had been in… it hadn't _just _held the sword. Ginny had always figured it was safe- she locked her bedroom door, Riddle didn't seem like that much of a snoop in the first place, and really, she had never expected him to be looking for things underneath her _knickers, _so she'd just kind of… shoved important stuff there. It was her hiding place for all her secret-ish things.

Gryffindor's sword. The copy of Mason's note he'd written for her before Christmas… the _book _that he had given her with the note.

The one that was sitting on Riddle's coffee table at that moment, a piece of paper sticking out of one of the pages near the back.

Taking a deep, shaky breath, Ginny reached forward and peeled open the book, praying that Riddle hadn't found it and then wincing when she saw that it was opened to the one story she hadn't wanted him to see.

Ginny cursed herself in a million different ways as she began digging through the other books he'd been looking at. The ones that were in English held several scattered paragraphs about the Hallows. Theories, stories, speculations, even guesses as to where they were located. In one of the books there was even an illustration- a triangle, circle, and line, just like the symbol on Riddle's damned ring.

Great. This was _wonderful! _Everything that Ginny had been working to prevent was suddenly falling to pieces, all because she'd given Riddle that stupid ring back without thinking, because she'd just told him to go and get the sword that could actually save the world and hadn't even considered that Riddle could have caught a glimpse of _anything else _in that bloody drawer!

No, no, no! A stone that could resurrect the dead? A wand that couldn't be beat? And, well, and invisibility cloak that… would be useful? Ginny didn't know about the last one, but Riddle already had the stone, which was terrible, and knowing that he knew about the wand was… it was just as bad.

Just as Ginny was about to begin to scour another book for something that could make the situation even _worse_, the portrait hole swung open. Ginny jumped to her feet, but somehow still managed to look guilty when Riddle stepped into the room. His eyes narrowed automatically at the sight of her. That was a good initial sign... Not.

"I didn't tell you that you could come back," he said immediately.

"It's my common room just as much as it is yours," Ginny retorted, working hard not to show how much his icy voice hurt her. He hadn't spoken to her like that for _months_, and she hated it. It was like she'd turned into another Orion or Abraxas in his eyes.

"What are you doing?" snapped Riddle accusingly, like he expected that she was digging around for Horcruxes or jinxing the furniture to come alive and swallow him whole.

"Oh, I don't know," said Ginny sarcastically. Was he _blind? _"Trying to get your ring back and looking for your diary, because _of course _I can't possibly be curious about the books you've got spread out across the coffee table. Or, speaking more generally, I suppose the idea that I'd want to come back here and work things out with you is just as foreign-"

"Diary?" asked Riddle, looking rather annoyed. "What are you talking about?"

Ginny probably would have believed that Riddle genuinely had no idea what she was talking about if she didn't have six years worth of nightmares revolving around that particular Horcrux.

"We both know it's your other Horcrux," Ginny said, "and I don't see why you're playing stupid anyway. It's not like I have anything to destroy it with."

Riddle paused at this, and then even though he was still angry, was obviously curious enough to ask, "My Horcruxes weren't a secret in the future?"

"Your secret wasn't outed or anything, if that's what you're worried about. I guess Dumbledore knew, but other than that just a few friends. Well, and at least one of your Death Eaters was told about the damn diary, I suppose." Ginny made a face. "Or at least he knew enough about it to know what'd happen if he gave it to a stupid little girl."

"So it worked?" asked Riddle. He looked so proud of himself that Ginny wanted to sock him in the face. "I doubt you would be so bitter about it if it did not... But I would have needed to die for that to be necessary in the first place... although if you are here, the Horcrux _did _fulfill its purpose. Perhaps they are not so fallible after all-"

"Oh, shut your sodding mouth." Ginny took a deep breath. She hadn't come to talk about _this_. "Your diary was destroyedby a_ twelve-year-old._ If it'd worked, I would have died a _long _time ago."

Riddle snorted.

"You're trying to tell me that you wrote in it? You aren't that stupid-"

"I was _eleven__!" _interrupted Ginny. "Of course I was that stupid!"

Immediately Riddle's eyes darkened.

"What were you doing with that diary when you were _eleven_! It could have killed you-"

"No shit, Riddle," Ginny said. She tried keeping the venom out of her voice, she really did- she hadn't come to fight, after all- but he was making it so damn difficult. What kind of idiot did he think she was? "Hell, it practically did! Do you think I knew better? Why do you care anyway, Mister 'Avada Kedavra'? You almost killed me _yesterday, _and the only regret you felt was that you didn't have the balls to finish the job-"

"Only because you tried killing me," Riddle hissed.

"I never _touched _you," Ginny argued. "I haven't wanted to kill you in forever! Dammit, I've been trying to help you for most of my trip here, okay? I don't know what in the hell is wrong with my brain, but there's something about _you_… I fell for you when I was eleven, and you tried killing me, and then I'm sent back here to save the entire world, and the same thing happens, and you're going to wind up trying to kill me again, aren't you? Break my heart and make me feel like an absolute idiot, and then _off me_, because there won't be anyone to save me this time-"

"Great." Riddle sneered. "You've found your voice again and you won't _shut up_."

"Are you even listening to me?"

"You're wailing like a banshee. I don't think that I have much of a choice."

"Don't you care at all?"

"I did up until you played me for an idiot!"

"I wasn't playing you! I would have told you everything, but I knew that you would react exactly like _this. _And hell, I _do_ feel guilty. You don't have to rub it in. Besides, what right do you have to play the bloody _trust _card? I trusted you once, a long time ago, and after I wound up falling in love with you, you sucked out my soul and stole my childhood. Maybe that's phrased about as dramatically as possible and not quite accurate, but it's pretty much true, and I _know _that whatever I did couldn't have hurt you half as much as you hurt me because you _aren't _eleven! You know how to take care of yourself, you aren't a terrified little girl, and you sure as hell don't love me, because you _can't _love me-"

"You were my _first _friend," Riddle retorted, sounding so much like a little boy that Ginny almost found her angry mask crumbling. _Almost_.

"So? You were mine, and I wasn'table to simply pick up and move on when you betrayed me. When you get angry, you can go kill something or take over the world or yell and scream and look _scary _until everyone else is so miserable that you don't feel quite so shitty anymore. Us _moral _people have to deal with our problems! I had to spend _six years _pretending that you didn't haunt me every single day of my life, all while watching a different you, a terrible… monster, resurrect himself and destroy _everything._ I had to convince myself that you didn't scare the shit out of me while you murdered thousands, including a good chunk of my family, while you made my life hell-"

"A Monster? And you say you _like _me after all of that?" snorted Riddle. "I'm _not_ the idiot in the diary. That piece of my soul was designed to _use _you. Is that why you ever even pretended to like me in the first place? Because you confused me with a polite, understanding _Horcrux _that I made to ensnare anyone foolish enough to bare their soul to it-"

"_No_," Ginny interrupted. "Are you _mad_? I said I _loved _that piece of you, not that I still do. Why do you think I insisted on calling you 'Riddle' even after we started going out? I _needed _to, so that I could distinguish you from the diary, from that disgustingly sweet, oh-so-loving _Tom." _

Riddle shook his head.

"I do not believe you."

"Of course you don't." Ginny shook her head. "That would mean you would be expected to _forgive _me, to let it go that I lied to you in order to _help _you, that you _think _I made a fool out of you when you well know I didn't. You have too much pride to even consider believing me, and it's driving me mad."

"You _hurt _me," Riddle admitted, then looked absolutely disgusted with himself after the words were out of his mouth.

"That's _life_," Ginny shot back. "People get hurt, and if you weren't so good at making up stories, you would know that."

"What are you talking about _now_?"

"Your mother hurts you by dying, so she's weak. Your father hurts you by leaving, so he's evil. A few Muggles make you angry, so the whole race is useless. People in general have treated you like shit, so _everyone_ is an idiot. Your whole mindset it making everyone else out to be horrible so that you don't feel so bad about yourself. I'm sure that I'll stop hurting you once you make me into a murderous bitch that destroys _everything-" _

"I cannot believe how _stupid_-"

"It's _the truth!" _

"I'm not that _weak." _

"It's not being _weak. _It's surviving."

"Get out."

"Did I hurt your feelings_?" _

"I said-"

"It's my common room, too!"

The room quickly descended into silence, with Riddle staring at Ginny with burning eyes, and Ginny panting from how worked up she'd gotten. Somehow Riddle hardly seem affected by their argument at all, although Ginny knew better. He was just as upset as she was. He just hid it better.

"I have both Horcruxes and you do not know where they're at," said Riddle. "I took Gryffindor's sword from you and hid it. I now know about the Hallows as well, which is an idiotic oversight on your part. You're in absolutely no position to want to hurt me."

"Duh."

"And yet you still wish to 'work things out'?"

Ginny sighed.

"No, I'm just shrieking at you because I like seeing how far I can push you without getting myself killed."

"I won't kill you."

Ginny let out a low sigh.

"I'm just dumb enough to trust you on that."

"You cannot be telling the entire truth."

"I am, believe me. Unless you want me to specify some other exciting things you do when you get older, I'm telling the whole truth. Maybe I've gotten good at acting, but there's no way I could actually remember a backstory _quite _like that."

There were another few moments of quiet. Then Ginny found herself asking, "So… what're you going to do with the Hallows?"

Riddle narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously.

"Most likely something that you will disprove of."

"I figured that. Care to specify?"

He hesitated, but eventually did respond.

"I do not know. Their usefulness is a shaky concept at best. Perhaps they'll help me- my stone more than the others, I expect- but, from what I can tell, I doubt that they will do anything that will justify McCreery's inane secrecy. Unless, of course, they become more powerful together. There are theories speculating about that- that when the three artifacts are combined, they grant the owner anything from invincibility to immortality- though, as I said, those are just theories."

"Which means you're not sure."

"In a sense. There are other… variables that will affect my decision, so yes, I suppose that I still am not sure _what _my course of action concerning the Deathly Hallows will be."

"Mason was worried you'd use the Resurrection Stone to create an army of the dead."

"And you think me incapable?"

"Morally, I kind of do. I could see Lord Voldemort doing that. Not you."

"I _am _Lord Voldemort. It's foolish of you to think differently."

"Lose the nose, find a way to get a bit paler, and go bald. Then we'll talk. Anyhow, I'm a Hufflepuff. We tend to be foolish."

Riddle got a strange look on his face, but said nothing else for a short amount of time. Then, seemingly randomly, he asked, "Why do you say I could not love you?"

"Er, well," Ginny said, stuttering a bit in surprise. Of all the questions he could have asked, that was the most unexpected he could have come up with... And how could he not know the answer in the first place? He had to at least get the love potion bit- according to Dumbledore, he'd figured out most of his history before he murdered his father- so why hadn't he researched it like everything else? Why was Ginny forced to explain this at such an obviously awkward time? "That was a very smooth, quite… unexpected subject change."

"I'm curious, Peverell. Enlighten me."

Ginny didn't miss that he didn't call her 'Ginevra' anymore, and quickly spoke to cover up her hurt.

"I guess it's because your mum used a love potion. To… er, seduce your dad. That's what Dumbledore said before I left, anyway. Apparently babies who are born as a result of... forced attachment like that aren't born with the ability to love. Which is where all your problems probably come in..."

Expressionlessly, Riddle said, "And you still bother with me?"

"Well… I asked _this _Dumbledore, the one in the past, and he kind of said something about me being able to _teach _you how to love. I guess. Which is irrelevant now, but-"

"Why would you want to?"

This felt uncomfortably close to the conversation that Ginny had had with Orion barely an hour ago.

"Because… " Ginny said.

"It would keep me from turning into 'Lord Voldemort'? As I said before, I already am-"

"As _I _said before, you aren't Voldemort yet," Ginny interrupted. "You don't act like him, you don't talk like him, and you really do not look like him. But actually, that's not it, anyway. I'd barely even considered _that _reason. It's just… well…" _I really, really like you and I want you not to be evil and you deserve to be able to love because it'll make you a million times happier and it's not fair that you have no idea what loving someone is like and-_

"Forget it," said Riddle. Ginny's train of thought immediately screeched to a halt. "You're giving me a headache, and I… You're somehow _still_ managing to destroy me. I should be over this. Leave."

"I said-"

Riddle's face darkened.

_"Get out of here. _I do not want to deal with you right now."

"Okay." Ginny exhaled. "I'll leave. But only… only if you'll answer a question."

Riddle exhaled sharply.

_"What?" _

"Do you hate me?"

Ginny's eyes locked with Riddle's, and the Head Boy slowly shook his head. He didn't say anything else, but that was enough for Ginny. Terrified and angry and worried and happy, Ginny left the common room with a twisted kind of half-smile on her face.

Maybe the argument hadn't exactly been optimistic, and really they'd resolved _nothing_, but, well...

At least not everything had fallen apart.


	55. Head Games

Ginny was so certain that Riddle was furious after he kicked her out of the common room that, when she returned to sneak up to her room later that evening, she immediately tried sneaking past him, moving for her staircase as silently as she could, sure that he still wasn't in the mood for conversation.

Of course, Riddle unsurprisingly managed to defy expectations.

"We have a prefect meeting tomorrow at eleven thirty."

Ginny stopped halfway up her staircase and turned to look at the Head Boy, startled that he caught her and shocked that he'd said something so... normal. After everything they'd talked about that afternoon, everything that was going on between them in general, hearing him say something so ordinary, was disorienting.

"Okay..." Ginny said, keeping her tone light like it wasn't a big deal that Riddle had spoken to her at all, let alone without annoyance or disgust in his voice. She retreated a few steps so that she could see Riddle's face. He narrowed his eyes at her hopeful expression.

"Be there."

"I really wasn't planning to skip it." She paused for a moment. "Have you convinced yourself to hate me yet?"

Another dirty look. Ginny was beginning to wonder if she hadn't just imagined the vaguely friendly, genuinely entertained, or playfully sarcastic expressions that Riddle had occasionally worn before Allison spilled everything to him yesterday. Even after only a couple encounters, she was beginning to get tired of his blank mask and ugly scowls.

"I haven't been successful so far this year," he replied. "It's hardly surprising that a few additional strikes against you still have not managed to restore my sanity."

"Good."

Ginny stayed where she was, not sure whether or not she should push the conversation or let things stand as they were. Riddle answered the question for her.

"I may not hate you, Peverell, but that does not mean I wish to tolerate your company right now."

"Have you ever done more than 'tolerate' my company in the first place?" Ginny asked. She knew the answer, and she also knew that she should probably take the hint and scurry off to her room, but for some reason she wanted to hear Riddle's reply.

"You aren't stupid enough not to realize that I enjoyed it occasionally," he said. Then, with annoyance plain in his voice: "Or at least I enjoyed what I assumed was your company. For all I know, the moments that I did enjoy could have been nothing more than clever acting on your part."

"You're ridiculous," Ginny said. Riddle started to reply, but she plowed on, "If you really cared, you would grow up, get over it, and forgive me for screwing up. I've apologized a million times! Why can't you just give me some credit and trust me?"

Riddle raised a brow. "How am I supposed to know whether or not you are simply trying to work your way back into my good graces, so that you can resume your mission as soon as I let my guard down?"

Ginny wanted to bang her head against a wall.

"Well," Ginny said slowly. "Since you know what I'm doing now, you _could _just keep the ring away from me."

"You admitted yourself that there are several ways that you could possibly steal it from me. That is also proof that you have given the task a good deal of thought-"

Ginny was tired, didn't want to argue, and was a hundred percent convinced that Riddle was going to succeed in killing her whether he wanted to or not, simply because her head was about two seconds away from exploding. With an angry, indignant noise, Ginny stomped the rest of the way up the staircase and slammed the door on the rest of Riddle's sentence. She knew it was immature, but Riddle was the one who was trying so hard to find arguments where there were none, just like a stubborn five-year-old. Ginny wasn't the only one being childish.

With an annoyed huff, the Head Girl plopped down on her bed and closed her eyes. A part of her wanted Riddle to venture up to her room and apologize, to accept her plea for forgiveness and tell her that he would never, ever turn into the monster that killed her family. A bigger, smarter part scolded her for even entertaining the idea.

Still, Ginny couldn't help but hope to hear footsteps climbing her staircase, or maybe a knock on her door for the better chunk of an hour. Even though she'd known the apology wasn't coming, had known that Riddle was sitting down in the common room, probably more enraptured in his study of the Hallows than in anything to do with her, it still hurt when he didn't come.

As Ginny fell asleep, she mentally berated herself for hoping in the first place.

…

Abraxas came to the prefect meeting much earlier than necessary the next day. Riddle was sitting in his usual spot, pouring over a book on the Hallows, when the blond strolled into the common room without knocking. Riddle hastily raised his wand and changed the binding on his book, but Abraxas only snorted and waved his hand at the Head Boy's unnecessary gesture.

"Don't trouble yourself to keep any secrets from me, Lord Voldemort," he said flippantly. Ginny flinched and cursed Abraxas for being a stupid, arrogant Malfoy. Her mouth was already half open to beg him to be quiet when Riddle slowly looked up and pinned Abraxas, and then her, with an icy glare that kept both of them silent.

A tense second passed where Ginny watched Riddle look back and forth between her and Abraxas, but then he stiffly changed the cover on his book back to its original state and wordlessly resumed reading. Ginny exhaled, but Abraxas appeared unsurprised as he ambled over to Ginny's chair and perched himself on the arm- not helping- without much more than a careless shrug.

"What are you doing?" Ginny asked, her voice at a normal volume so Riddle didn't think they were talking about him.

"Seeing how far I can push your boyfriend before he gets jealous and kicks me out," Abraxas said. Ginny opened her mouth to tell him that Riddle probably wasn't really her boyfriend anymore- as loathe as she was to admit it-, that he wasn't the type of person who should be pushed, and that if Abraxas did provoke Riddle into snapping, being kicked out of the common room would be the least of his worries. Abraxas cut her off with a disarming smile and a shake of the head. "I'm kidding. Really. I'm just messing around. But I did come early for a reason. Orion gave me this journal, and I really think you should-"

The portrait creaked open again, cutting Abraxas off. Riddle made an annoyed noise and disguised his book only a second before Mason stepped into the common room. Riddle exhaled sharply, glanced at the cover of his book, but kept the fake binding.

"Ginny, I think I need to apologize-" Mason started, glancing uneasily at Riddle. His eyes landed on Riddle's hand, where he was wearing his ring again. They narrowed and he stopped mid-sentence.

"I suppose you're rethinking that now?" Abraxas asked, smirking lightly. Ginny figured that she should've been getting to be a pro at edgy situations by that time, but between Abraxas's distinct lack of helpfulness, her annoyance at Riddle for the stupid condescending smirk he was shooting in Mason's direction, and her fury at Mason for being an annoying liar who couldn't bother being _careful _about a life-or-death secret, she was definitely more for running away than dealing with the stupid confrontation that was no doubt going to take place.

"You gave it back?" asked Mason. He looked at Abraxas. "And you told _him_ about the ring?"

"Yes I told Abraxas about the ring," Ginny said, addressing the easiest issue first. "And Abraxas Malfoy, the Slytherin, trusts me to know what to do with it-"

"I expect that he'd trust you to push him off a cliff, but why would _you_ trust _him_?" Mason asked. "I didn't even think you two were on speaking terms."

"We made up," Ginny said. She'd started talking to Abraxas again before Mason was petrified, but that was also when Mason was angry enough at her that he probably didn't care enough to notice.

"Enough for you to tell him about _that_? And just because Abraxas said you should give the ring back to Riddle doesn't mean that you should have listened. Neither of you understand how bad this could get-"

"I bet Ginny has a better understanding than you do," Abraxas snorted.

Ginny glared at him. He wasn't helping.

Riddle, who evidently decided that he wanted the conversation to blow up more than it already was, smirked and said to Mason, "I'd like to think that I have a better understanding than any of you. I doubt that you have any idea how many books there are about the Resurrection Ring that are only written in Ancient Runes." He looked at McCreery. "Unless your uncle taught you more than I expect before you ran away."

Mason's eyes flew to Ginny. Abraxas's did, too. She hadn't felt like talking to him after her argument with Riddle, so he still didn't know that the Head Boy had stumbled across the _Tales of Beedle the Bard _when he was looting her drawer for the sword of Gryffindor.

"Resurrection Stone?" Mason asked, his voice higher than usual.

"I did not _tell _him about the Hallows," Ginny said fiercely. Then, in a more subdued voice, "He found out accidentally."

Ignoring Ginny's clarification, Mason ran a hand through his curly hair.

"Do you have any idea… if he gets all three of them in one place…"

"He doesn't need them," Abraxas interrupted, shaking his head. "In Ginny's timeline, you died before Riddle figured out your secret, so he took over the world just fine without them." He paused for a second, thinking over his words, and continued, "Will there really be any difference if he uses the Hallows to become supreme overlord instead of whatever insane method he used the first time? I mean, who cares if he has a wand that can't be beat or if he makes four extra Horcruxes instead? If he makes an army of Inferi, or of whatever reanimated dead that ring can make?"

Ginny stared at Abraxas. At first she couldn't help but think that he was crazy, but after a second she realized how right he was. If anything, the Hallows were more good than bad. They'd possibly keep Riddle from making more Horcruxes, and since the Deathly Hallows weren't technically dark magic, maybe he wouldn't lose so much of his humanity. Even if Ginny did fail to help him, maybe there was a chance that Riddle wouldn't be _quite _so evil.

"Wait," Mason said, jerking Ginny back into the conversation. His brown eyes were huge. "Wait… Riddle… He knows? And Abraxas knows? Ginny, what happened and why didn't you tell me?"

Ginny started a little at Mason's surprise, but then she remembered that he didn't know about what'd happened. That she'd been avoiding him after their fight and hadn't told him about Allison. Mason still had no idea that Riddle had outed the secret.

"I…" Ginny started, balking when she didn't see any frustration or anger in Mason's expression. There was just worry, even relief. She swallowed. Her head had been doing such a good job of turning Mason into something of a bad guy that she'd almost forgotten he actually did care about her, that they were friends. "Uh... Nothing happened, really. Riddle just pieced everything together," she lied after a second, not wanting Mason to know that it was his fault, not when he looked so worried. "And I didn't tell you because we were fighting… I thought you'd be mad at me."

"I… I am," Mason said unconvincingly. "This isn't… it's not good…" He glanced at Riddle and Ginny knew that he didn't want the Head Boy to be listening to this conversation. "But you're okay. That's more important."

Ginny started to speak, but Riddle opened his mouth first, sarcastically saying, "I'm offended by your surprise. Really, I hardly kill everyone who makes me angry." He looked at Ginny and scowled, obviously telling her not to mention that he did try to kill her but chickened out before he could.

At first it didn't seem like Mason was going to reply- Ginny was pretty sure that Riddle hadn't intended for anyone to comment on what he'd said anyway- but then he lowly said, "Myrtle's family probably wouldn't agree with you." He shrugged, his eyes flashing with sparks. "And your own either, if they were still _alive _to."

"You have _no _room to talk," argued Riddle. "Two years ago, you were more eager to follow me than Lestrange-"

"But I've _changed_," Mason interrupted.

"And I _haven't?" _Riddle asked. He was seething. "If anything, these months that I have... have _wasted _with Peverell have screwed me up enough that I can't so much as _think _of hurting another human being without worrying about how _she _will react, as loathe as I am to admit to _that_... And now I'm defending myself as if I _care_." He looked straight at Ginny. "You'd better hope that whatever disgusting effects you've had on me fade before they destroy me completely."

"You're crazy," Ginny said. "You're finally growing a conscience... I can't believe you would think _that's _disgusting. If you could see some of the things that you do over the course of the next fifty years, if you could see what you turn into in the future... you would have an entirely different idea of what disgusting is."

"I know what I was planning... what I _am _planning to do," said Riddle. "While you may not like it, I hardly think I would find it surprising."

"I doubt it," Ginny argued. "You have limits now... in the future, I swear that you go insane. You have no control at all. If I could just show you..." Ginny thought of something and stood up, Abraxas moving out of the way so she could get to her feet. Then, with a deep breath, she took three large steps closer to Riddle, so that she was standing right in front of his chair.

"What are you doing?" Riddle asked.

"Orion... Orion says you're working on legilimency, and I know that you've got loads of natural talent for it. So I want you to look around in my head. To see what you become, and tell me if you still think that it's worth it."

"No," Riddle said. "That is a ridiculous idea."

"Look at me," Ginny demanded, trying to get Riddle to make eye-contact. He wouldn't. "Just... I know you aren't my biggest fan, but I want you to see what you're getting yourself into, before you turn your back on me completely. Please."

Riddle clenched his teeth.

"I haven't perfected the skill yet. It could hurt you."

Ginny _almost _smiled_. _Riddle didn't want to hurt her. He had the opportunity to look inside her head, and he was willing to pass it up because he didn't want to hurt her. Because he did still care, even if he hated himself for it.

"I… I trust you," Ginny said. She took a deep breath. "Just see what you turn into, okay?"

Riddle looked up, locking eyes with Ginny's. For a second she wasn't sure whether or not he'd agreed, didn't know if he was actually looking, but then the room swam in front of her eyes and vanished, dozens of other images racing by in its place.

Ginny as a toddler, squealing with laughter while Charlie tossed her up on his shoulders. Ginny when she was ten, skipping down the stairs for breakfast before freezing and running away with red cheeks when she saw Harry Potter sitting at the table. Lucius Malfoy's disgusting smile as he rifled through her books. Bumping into Draco Malfoy on her first day at Hogwarts, running… hiding in a bathroom and finding the diary in her bag, fiercely starting to write and smiling with joy when 'Tom' responded. Laying in the Chamber, barely catching the words, "Funny, the damage a silly little book can do. Especially in the hands of a silly little girl."

Then two years later, dancing with Neville at the Yule Ball. Seeing Harry come back from the final tournament task, Cedric Diggory's dead body in his arms. The Department of Mysteries her fifth year. Harry telling her about the prophecy, terror written all over his features. Sixth year. Winning the Quidditch tournament. Kissing Harry. Draco and Snape escaping. Dumbledore's limp body, almost dead, only barely pulling through. Harry breaking up with her… saying he didn't want her hurt. Fleur and Bill's wedding. Harry again… warm and close and promising to come back. Dumbledore finding her in the middle of class… Charlie is dead. Later, another battle… Bellatrix Lestrange screaming… her father gone… Lord Voldemort's laughing face, crimson eyes, staring straight at her. Dumbledore's note. Harry dead.

That should've been it. Riddle had seen more than what he'd wanted to see and Ginny, through the haze of memories, vaguely realized it. She tried to push him out, but Riddle wasn't leaving. More images started flashing through her head.

Correcting Riddle in potions. Abraxas calling her beautiful. Mason holding her after she ran out of the Great Hall on Halloween. Abraxas and Cassiopeia, charmed together at the lips. Riddle smiling at her across a crowd of people. Riddle tearing her from a nightmare, hovering next to her bed and watching as she slipped back to sleep. Her face digging into Riddle's back when he stepped in front of the basilisk, risking his life for hers. Riddle guiding her past the cauldron of Amortentia, the smell of _him _mixing with gingersnaps and mint tea. Riddle kissing her _hard_, long-fingered hands wrapped around her waist, holding her close…

Ginny felt someone grab her arms as she pitched forward, her head pounding as the common room came into focus around her. Riddle was still in front of her, holding her up, his eyes darker than she'd ever seen them.

Ginny tore her arms away from his hands and stumbled backwards.

"I..." started Riddle. He shook his head. "I got carried away."

"No shit," Ginny said, her voice not quite as harsh as she wanted it to be. She was too dizzy. "You weren't supposed to dig through _everything."_

"I wanted to see if you were lying," Riddle said, failing to sound cool. His voice was brimming with frustration and anger and traces of other emotions that Ginny couldn't identify. He inhaled a little more deeply than necessary, as if trying to keep his composure. "Monster, I think you said during our argument yesterday." He pursed his lips. "I suppose I can see where you would get that from... Though I struggle a bit more to comprehend just how you have managed to grow genuinely close to me. To _Malfoy_, as well, actually. I don't... I _can't _understand it."

"To Malfoy?" Abraxas asked. "What do you mean by that?"

Ginny glared at Abraxas. "I'd rather not say, and I pray that I can trust _you _enough not to go frolicking about in my head whenever you please to find out." She looked back at Riddle and shook her head. "And you... you could've just trusted me, arsehole."

"Because _that _turned out so well for me before," Riddle snorted. He looked at Abraxas and smirked. "As for you, I simply found your son, especially, to be quite the cowardly fop. Giving a deadly diary to an eleven-year-old girl? It's almost as surprising that she deigned to be friends with you as it is that she so willingly associates with the person who killed her dear Harry Potter."

"Riddle," Ginny said angrily. "You weren't supposed to see that. You _wouldn't _have seen any of it if you had any self-control at all, stupid idiot. Just forget about Harry, okay? Forget about _all of it. _Shouldn't you be happy anyway? I like you. You know it. I'm not too fond of you right now, but I don't keep lifelong grudges. Especially not when it's my fault that I was stupid enough to serve my brain up to Lord Voldemort on a silver platter. So can't we just... start over?"

"You _loved _him for seven years."

"I had a silly crush on him," Ginny argued. _Lied._ "It was nothing. Really."

"He was prophesied to kill me," Riddle said. "He did kill me, once."

"And then you killed him," Ginny snapped, too much emotion seeping into her voice, making it shake. She took a deep breath and made sure that she wasn't going to do something stupid, like cry, then added, more softly, "His parents, too, if you care to know. I think you're even."

"He saved you. _From me._"

"Which means that I'm _still alive_," Ginny said emphatically. "If you weren't such a blind, jealous pig, you might actually be _thankful _to him for that, unless you really don't care-!"

"This," interrupted Tom Riddle, "is... ridiculous. It makes no sense." He got to his feet and looked down at Ginny, his eyes burning. "I need to think." Then he swept off to his room, leaving Mason and Abraxas alone with Ginny.

"He could've really hurt you," Mason said softly. "Digging around in your head when he doesn't entirely know what he's doing. You shouldn't have let him do that, and he shouldn't have been callous enough to try."

"I trusted him to do the spell right," Ginny said. She let out a low breath. "At least that trust wasn't misplaced, although I don't know what I was thinking, letting _him_ into my head... I knew he'd be curious. Riddle hates not knowing things, and that was pretty much a book to everything that's been confusing him all year... I should've known better."

"He wasn't angry," Mason said, trying to be helpful. He ran a hand through his hair. "Maybe it's a good thing." His voice turned slightly more bitter. "It might keep him from trying to do anything stupid with the Hallows. He seemed affected by whatever he saw."

"Was he telling the truth?" Abraxas asked, before Ginny could say anything to Mason. She looked over at him quickly, biting her lip when she saw how genuinely upset he was. "That my son..."

"Yeah," Ginny said. She took a deep breath. "He was kind of an arse, but it really isn't your fault. I mean, I bet Cassiopeia could have kids with Charlus Potter and they'd still wind up evil, just because she's... her."

"Ginny..."

"I'm serious," Ginny insisted. "You weren't even a Death Eater. And, well, even though your son was terrible, your grandson wasn't _that _bad. Um... my fourth year, remember when I told you about that horrid Umbridge woman who tried detaining me and some of my friends in her office, before the battle at the Department of Mysteries? Well, Draco kind of let us go, so that we could go help out. Which was good."

Abraxas rolled his eyes, but there was a semblance of a smile on his face.

"I'm not an idiot. He didn't 'let' you go, did he?"

"I may have stolen his wand and bat-bogeyed him," Ginny said lightly, shrugging. "But that's hardly relevant. Draco really was an okay guy. He had his terrible father always asking for perfection, a spineless mother, and constant death threats from Lord Voldemort hanging over his head. Really, I think he turned out quite well, all things considered."

"That's great to hear," Abraxas said sarcastically.

"Don't worry," Ginny assured him. "Even if Cassiopeia screws up your son as badly as she did last time- since it's obviously not your fault- maybe... maybe there won't be a Lord Voldemort for him to get mixed up with. Things change, you know. Now..." She glanced up at the door to Riddle's room. "I should go talk to him."

Mason gestured to the clock. The meeting was supposed to start in five minutes.

"You don't really have time, and he said he needs to think. Maybe afterwards..."

"The hell with the stupid meeting," said Ginny, rolling her eyes. "You two can conduct it. Uh... discuss the ball, ask about the orphans, and... weren't we supposed to be having bake sale or something?" She didn't wait for an answer. "Anyhow, you've been to enough of these things. I... really think I do need to talk to Riddle. To make sure he isn't misinterpreting things, or... or whatever. Please?"

"Ginny, I really don't think you should try talking to him quite so soon," Mason said.

"I have to show you what's in that journal," Abraxas added, but Ginny was already starting to head for Riddle's room. Someone knocked on the portrait, asking to be let in, but she ignored whoever it was.

"Uh, hold on a second," Abraxas called to the waiting prefect. Then, giving in, he hissed at Ginny, "Hurry up."

Ginny scrambled up the last few steps and then skidded to a stop in front of Riddle's room, taking a deep breath as she looked at the intimidating wooden door. After taking a second to gather up her Gryffindor courage, she raised a hand and knocked. He didn't answer. Taking a deep breath, Ginny prepared herself for a terrible hex or curse.

She turned the doorknob.

To her surprise, the door wasn't locked. Cautiously, Ginny cracked open the door, waiting for the yelling to start, or for the jinx to come, but nothing happened, and, with a deep breath, Ginny slipped into Tom Riddle's room for the first time.


	56. A Deal With the Devil

Ginny peered around cautiously as she slipped into Riddle's room, expecting the Head Boy to be brooding out a window or pacing restlessly. Instead, he wasn't anywhere in sight. Ginny bit her lip with worry. Voldemort could fly, so it wasn't entirely ridiculous to think that Riddle had just slipped out the window, and-

"You are not supposed to be in here."

She whirled around and let out a little scream, putting a hand over her heart to slow it down as she breathed, "Merlin, Riddle, don't _do _that." She took a deep breath. "It's like you're something out of a Muggle horror film-" Riddle gave her a nasty look as he stepped out from where he'd been standing behind the door, and Ginny quickly corrected, "Not like that. I mean…" She swallowed and gave a weak laugh. "Never mind. And here I came up here to try to convince you that aren't a scary bad guy. Sucky job, huh?"

"What gives you the impression that I found fault with what I become?" Riddle asked, eyes blazing and sparking. "I agreed with you that I turn into a monster, not that I care." His face darkened further. "And are you stupid? You know practically _everything _about me, and yet you're foolish enough to try tearing open my door without warning?"

"Nothing happened."

"I didn't _let _anything happen," Riddle said.

Ginny's eyes widened a little as realization dawned on her.

"Is that why you were behind the door? Counteracting jinxes?" Riddle raised a brow. Ginny exhaled. "Right. Obviously. I guess you don't make a habit of hanging out there."

"What are you doing here, Peverell? Or should I say _Weasley?" _

Ginny's eyes narrowed when he said her last name like it was something disgusting.

"What does it matter that I'm a Weasley?" she asked angrily.

Riddle looked down at her, saying, "Your blood is nearly as pure as the _Malfoy's_, and yet you never see fit to act like it. It is a wasteful disgrace. Don't _look at me like that." _His eyes narrowed and he went on. "Now, would you please tell me _why you are here?" _

"I told you. I'm here to convince you-"

"To convince me I'm not evil?" He sneered. "Fact cannot be argued with, and I will repeat, once again, that _I do not care_. What you have showed me… it's what I have _always _wished for. Complete and total power. People were too afraid of me to so much as speak my name, and I defeated the one person who could ever destroy me. Tell me," Riddle leaned forward, "why you think I should be opposed to ruling the world."

Ginny stood up straighter. "Because you'd be alone. You wouldn't be happy."

Riddle threw his arms in the air and turned away from her. "I will _never _be happy. I have told you that more than once, and for some reason you do not believe me. What can I do to convince you that the future played out exactly as it was supposed to the first time? That it would be better for me if you let me do as fate wishes?"

"Because fate sent me back in time, Riddle," Ginny said. "It doesn't want you ruling the world. And don't tell me that you were _never _happy when we were going out. That _all _of your almost-smiles were fake. You were happy, and you can still be happy, but you're too set on your goal to look away even when seeing what you become _bothered you_. You _were _evil, you may become evil, but you sure as hell aren't evil now, and you're happier than you're ever going to have the chance to be again, so why can't you just accept-"

"Accept _what?" _Riddle asked. "That I have the chance to become the most powerful person in history and you wish for me to pass it up? Accept that while maybe you might have made me somewhat close to happy, you also make me unbearably weak? I've had enough of being _weak, _Peverell. The orphan. The _Mudblood_. The single person in Slytherin with no money and no name and no home to _ever _go back to-"

"But you aren't weak!" Ginny protested. "You never have been! You're a self-centered, egotistical _psychopath_, but you aren't weak!"

"Self-centered, egotistical psychopath?" Riddle asked darkly. "Did you ever say anything like _that _to Harry Potter?"

Ginny grabbed onto Riddle's arm and yanked so that Riddle was facing her again. "That's what your worst problem is with what you saw in my head, isn't it?" She looked him in the eye. "You never even said a word about figuring out how much I really like you, didn't comment at all about what I've given up. Instead it's all about Harry Bloody Potter. You're pretty damned pathetic if you're going to get jealous over a boy I'm never going to see again-"

"Oh, you're going to see him," Riddle said angrily. "In your thoughts. Dreams. Because you _loved _him. The only reason you aren't with him right now is because I murdered him and forced you to settle for second best-"

"I loved_ you_ first!" Ginny protested, maybe a bit more loudly than she needed to.

"And look where that got you," Riddle said. He exhaled sharply, nostrils flaring like a livid bull's and went on, "You almost died and _Potter _went and saved you. I suppose I am indebted to him for that." Their eyes locked. "No. I cannot even say that. Everything would be easier if you'd have died then."

"Or so you're trying to convince yourself."

"You've spent the past twenty-four hours screaming at me, trying to convince me that I'd be better off with you, and I have not cracked yet. What will it take for me to get you to stop?"

"You admitting that I'm right," Ginny said heatedly. "Because I am. Do you really think I'd put aside the fate of the world for some guy I kind of like? For some guy I'd be willing to just _leave_? You're special, Riddle. I knew it my first year. You didn't just take me in. You made me fall in love with you, and maybe I don't quite love you now, but I'm a hell of a lot closer than is good for me and that's with knowing exactly what you are and what you go on to do.

"I'm willing to give up so much for you, and all you're worried about is becoming some super-powerful dark wizard. To make things worse, you don't even have a reason for it. You don't do it 'for the greater good' like Grindelwald. You don't care about how the Ministry is run, what's going on in the wizarding world. You just want people to make you feel special, and that's stupid because I'm willing to do a million times more than mindlessly worship you and you aren't going to even give me a chance!"

"You'd refuse to stay with me if I tried taking over again," Riddle said. "I would be _nothing _if I chose you."

"Run for bloody Minister of Magic!" Ginny cried in frustration. "Then you'd be something."

"I have little interest in pretending that I care what happens to a bunch of idiots I have no interest in knowing." He leaned forward and looked into Ginny's eyes, his own eyes blazing, looking to make a point. "I refuse to let you convince me to give up on my chance to have everything."

"You wouldn't have everything," Ginny said, tilting her head up to look at him. "You wouldn't have me." She smiled. "You know what I just realized? None of this conversation that we're having right now has to do with my secret. Not since we moved on from talking about Harry. You would have had to deal with this anyway. So why are you so worried about it now?

"I would have brought up the issue eventually," Riddle said, somewhat unsure. He didn't know what Ginny was getting at, why she was almost smiling.

"Would've you?" Ginny asked. "Or have you just started trying to convince yourself to let go of me because of how badly it hurt you when you thought you'd never had me?" She leaned up forward, inches from his face. "Because you never realized how much you liked me?" A deep breath. "Because you're scared of me?"

"You're pushing me dangerously far."

"That's what got you to fall for me in the first place, isn't it?" Ginny asked sweetly. She reached up and rested one of her hands on his cheek, brushing his lower lip with her thumb. "Don't worry. I've gotten good at knowing when to stop."

Riddle clenched his teeth. "It's foolish to think that you know how to play with fire." He reached up and grabbed her wrist, yanking Ginny's hand down. She gave Riddle a challenging look and stood a half-step closer to him.

"I'm not scared of you." Ginny's heart was starting to thud in her ears. She wasn't getting anywhere. She was probably making an idiot out of herself. Maybe she did think she was right about Riddle pushing her away because her supposed betrayal had hurt him more than he'd expected, because he didn't like that power she had over him, but… Ginny had no idea if that would make any difference.

Maybe it meant he liked her more than he wanted to, more than Ginny had expected.

Maybe it would also be what convinced him to keep his distance.

"Now? No." Riddle sneered at her. "But you are whenever I do something that reminds you of what I become."

"What you _became," _Ginny insisted. I'm not planning on giving up on you."

"I _want _you to give up on me. Even beyond having goals that far exceed what you would ever allow, I also…" Riddle's eyes narrowed angrily. "I _care for you_, and I am terrible for you. Abraxas-"

"Wait. Is _that_ what you got so upset about right after you got out of my head?" Ginny interrupted. She laughed harshly. "Because I'll _kill you_ if that's the case. I don't want a stupid self-sacrificing boyfriend who thinks I'm too stupid to see what's good for myself. I had one of those already, and if anything, I never figured I'd have to worry about that with you-"

"You're an idiot."

"I'm a Hufflepuff. According to you, we're all idiots." Ginny took a second to take a deep breath, to calm herself down, and then backtracked when she realized something. In an almost accusing voice, she said, "You just said you care for me."

"I'm aware."

"Then why do you always look at me like you detest me?"

"I loathe you," Riddle said. "Everything about you. You are too... infuriatingly persistent. People do not come into my room. They do not talk back to me. They do not _touch _me. You blatantly ignore my boundaries, and I hate it. I despise it. You are bad for me. You lied to me. Hurt me. Now you're trying to _force _me into accepting you back."

"I'm not forcing you," Ginny argued. Then she thought for a second and corrected, "Okay, maybe I kind of am. But what else can I do? You're just as stubborn as I am, and I don't want to give you time to convince yourself that you hate me." She stopped and swallowed. "Is that what you want, though? I'd suck at it, but if you need space, room to think... time to work things out, I'll leave. Maybe. For a short while."

"Time to work things out?" Riddle scoffed. "I need a strong _obliviate. _A memory potion. Something to make you go away forever. All that time will do is remind me that I'm becoming increasingly unable to function correctly without you, which will make making an intelligent decision even more difficult."

"Then save yourself some trouble and forgive me because I'm refusing to let you erase your memory."

"Lord Voldemort does not offer forgiveness."

Ginny looked at him challengingly. "I don't give a crap what Lord Voldemort does. How about Tom Riddle?"

"Tom Riddle is becoming increasingly incapable of thinking intelligently."

"Is that why he's taken to speaking in the third person?" Ginny asked.

"Peverell-"

"Sorry," Ginny said quickly, biting her lip against a smile because it almost looked like Riddle found some kind of amusement in her comment and it was nice to know that he really was able to not be angry _all _the time. "But… you know, right now, I'm not asking for you to start liking me again, for things to go back to the way they were before. I'm not forcing you into something long-term. I just… for now I want you to tell me that you forgive me, and that we can get back on speaking terms with each other. That I'll be in a place where I can earn your trust back and maybe get a chance to change your mind."

Riddle stared at Ginny for a long time. They'd been getting closer as they are arguing, and now Ginny could feel his warm breath brushing her face, knew that she only needed to take another half step and she'd be pressed up against him, that she'd just need to lean forward another three inches and she could kiss him. It was hardly the time or place for any of those thoughts, and she had no idea what Riddle would do if she tried, but she couldn't keep herself from thinking about it...

"What am I to forgive you for?"

"Huh?" asked Ginny suddenly. She shook her head to clear it, and Riddle's lips curled with the barest hint of amusement before lowering back into a straight line.

"You lied to me, but not with any ill-intent," said Riddle slowly. Almost unwillingly. "For the last few months, your actions have been entirely to help me. You truly like me. You were having guilty thoughts from the first week that you came here." He raked a hand through his hair. "I did not understand before, but... you were not... you did not truly mistreat me."

"So you do forgive me?"

"I hardly find it necessary."

Ginny exhaled in relief. "Good." She bit her lip and looked down. "But… now what? Where do we stand, I mean?"

"Isn't that our problem?" Riddle asked. "You say you aren't trying to force me into anything long-term, aren't trying to get me to make a life-altering decision, but… anything to do with you is life-altering. I know that you understand it. I am not… normal. My life has one track right now, and if I let you into it, intending for it to be a short time, you will work your way into my head again and I will be unable to let you go. It would change _everything." _

"So?" Ginny prompted.

"I do not want that. I want you _out_ of my head, not deeper into it. I want to be able to think clearly again. I want you away from me and out of my life and right now my only problem is that I _can't _let you go."

"Then what's the big deal? _Don't_."

"Don't? And give up on what I have worked for my entire life? For someone who will always love someone else more? No. I want to write this future the same way as the one that you changed, and I do not want you to mess it up."

"I'm _not _always going to love Harry more," Ginny said. She shook her head. "Maybe I did love Harry. Maybe I don't love you yet. But I knew him for seven years, and I never… I never felt half as strongly about him as I do about you. We didn't scream at each other, he never drove me crazy, but… right now, if I had to choose between the two of you, I would pick you because I think we need each other more, okay? So don't use that damn Harry thing on me."

"I don't _need_ anyone," spat Riddle. Ginny glowered at him. Of course, that's all that he would get from that.

"I think that's half the reason you become so evil in the future," Ginny told Riddle plainly. "You drive everyone away, don't trust them to do anything for you, and then wind up miserable because everyone hates you and you're all alone and you really have no power at all. Did you ever think about that, Riddle? That maybe, when you reach the top, nothing is going to have changed and you're still going to waste your life searching for more power because frightening people into respecting you isn't half as fulfilling as you think it'll be?"

Riddle was getting dangerously angry. He wasn't backing off, but his eyes were darkening. They hadn't turned red again, but Ginny wondered how much longer it would be before they did.

"I think that I want you to leave."

"You always say that whenever I'm about to prove you wrong."

Riddle clenched his hands into fists and growled, "Can't you ever_ just leave me alone_?" Ginny reflexively backed up, and Riddle stepped forward, like a cat circling its pray. "I have been drowning in my thoughts for the entire last day. I cannot focus on the Hallows, hardly care that I will take over the world, because of _you_. I want you to leave so I can think, but when you're gone I worry that you will never come back, that you will come to your senses and _run_. I do not know what I'm supposed to do. I do not want to turn my back on everything I have worked so hard for, but I am fast losing my _ability _to turn my back on you."

He took a deep, shaking breath and added in a softer, terrifying voice, "I said I want you _gone_. Why can't you simply listen to me?"

Ginny stared at him for several seconds, scrambling to figure out what his words meant and if he was more angry or frustrated and if there was anything she could say at all. Finally, a lot more bravely than she felt, the Head Girl simply said, "Why do you want me to leave? You just said time to think about it won't help you."

"It won't. I simply want to pretend that I can still erase this."

"That's stupid of you. It obviously won't work."

Riddle exhaled and closed his eyes. After a second, his rigid posture loosened until it looked like he could barely hold himself up and he let out one dark chuckle before he walked away from Ginny and sat down on his bed, putting his face in his hands. He didn't say anything for a long time, and Ginny stood there, not moving, not what she should be doing. It almost looked like she'd broken Tom Riddle.

She obviously hadn't ever expected that it would be easy to turn Tom Riddle into something other than evil, but Ginny hadn't understood just how hard until she saw the wild look in his eyes. Like she was physically trying to yank away a part of him. Asking this of him… it wasn't just confusing him. To Ginny, it almost looked like it was tangibly hurting him.

Ginny bit her lip and hesitantly said, "Um. Maybe you don't have to choose. What if… if I said that I'd stay with you, even if you do become Lord Voldemort?"

Riddle slowly looked up at Ginny, his usually perfectly brushed hair now falling forward, the very ends hanging in his eyes. Ginny was right about breaking him. He looked half mad. "Are you that masochistic?"

"No," said Ginny, although she was honestly starting to ask herself that same question. "I'm that confident that I can make you a better person."

Riddle shook his head.

"If I were to… allow this to continue, you do fully realize that I may not… be _able _to let you go," he said darkly. "No matter if I change or not. Even if I turn into the _exact _same person I do in the future. "

Ginny was ninety percent sure Riddle was trying to chase her away, trying to convince her that he wouldn't change and that she'd get stuck with a terrifying, murderous monster with no morals and no soul. Something less than human. For an instant Ginny considered the possibility, thought of herself being attached to Voldemort as some sort of creepy, _pet-_like thing, because that's what the future Voldemort would see her as. She knew it. He wouldn't love or care- he'd be beyond that.

Then Ginny pushed the thought away. Riddle would change. Even _he _thought so. Maybe he was possessive enough that, if he did go insane and psychopathic and make a few more Horcruxes, he would physically _force _her into staying with him, but Ginny had to trust that he was better than that. That she could help him enough to prevent that from happening.

Ginny took a deep breath. "I'm confident that you won't, but… I wouldn't care. I would accept it."

"You would not… interfere with my plans?" Riddle asked. He was thinking. The cogs in his head were very obviously turning. Weighing every pro and con of her offer.

"I'll try to convince you to abandon them, but I won't actually _do _anything," Ginny assured him. "I trust you to change enough that it won't be necessary. Is it a deal? I won't leave, even if you still decide to become Voldemort."

"I shouldn't trust myself with this. You _will _change me. Whether or not you expressly forbid me from making your future real or whether you encourage it, simply being in your presence will make things more difficult than they need to be."

"It'll make them better, too," said Ginny.

Riddle exhaled. He looked like he was dooming himself to the dementor's kiss. "Very…" He closed his eyes, his expression torn, then opened them again and went on hesitantly, "Very well. I will… we will continue our relationship for an indefinite amount of time."

Ginny's knees weakened from relief. "Oh, thank Merlin." She walked over to where Riddle had collapsed onto his bed and threw her arms around the Head Boy, hugging him tightly, completely ignoring the way that he stiffened under her touch. "I promise… I won't make you regret it."

"That's not my worry," said Riddle. "I am scared I will be too _blind_ to regret it." Ginny let go of him and looked up at his face again, an enormous smile on her face.

"I don't see any problem with that," Ginny said. Riddle exhaled.

"_You _wouldn't." A little of the wild look in his eyes had faded, and after a short hesitation, he reached up and guided Ginny down onto the bed next to him, leaning closer to her in the same movement, his eyes trained on her lips. Ginny's breath hitched in her throat for a second, but then she remembered something and turned away a second before he was going to kiss her.

"I still never gave you permission to look through all my memories," she said, returning the glare he was giving her as forcefully as she could. "We're in a relationship again, so that means I can make you angry without worrying about scaring you off."

"Dammit," Riddle growled under his breath. He grabbed both of her shoulders and held her in place in front of him. "I _apologize_." It didn't sound like he meant it. "Now forgive me before I decide to hold your time as Dumbledore's assassin against you."

Ginny opened her mouth to protest, but Riddle cut her off with a kiss. She tried shoving him away, but he pulled back and gave Ginny a withering look that had her thinking maybe it wouldn't be _such _a bad idea to just let him off the hook. Riddle must have seen the resignation in her eyes, because a little of his still evident frustration melted away and his lips curled into a smug smirk.

He caught Ginny's lips again, and this time she kissed him back.

Maybe she could let him off easy, just one time...

...

**A/N- **

**Ha. Eight days. I'm getting better. And you guys... wow. I mean... I asked for a thousand reviews, and I wound up with fifteen extra, which is absolutely ridiculous. Thank you _so much_. As for my question last chapter about Riddle's POV, most of you are saying to either not do it or wait until I'm done and go back and do a scene or two from his eyes then. Anyway, I do agree that it'd be best to keep Riddle mysterious, at least for now. I don't know if I'll go back and do extra chapters later or not, but for now Riddle's head is going to stay a secret since most of you seem to like it better that way. **

**Anyway... I hope this wasn't too rushed or unrealistic or anything. The story isn't quite over yet- I'm guessing two or three chapters, even though I'm not entirely sure- but since this was the huge forgiveness, make-up moment, please tell me if it wasn't realistic because if anything stands out as not-quite right I will go back and take a second look at it. So comments would be appreciated, as always. **

**Next chapter should be up in about a week again. That should answer your questions about what Abraxas was talking about with the diary, and a little more chatting with Mason, so... I'll see you then. **

**Oh, and another question. How do you guys feel about epilogues? I know some readers feel like they kill imagination, and others like the closure. I'll let your guys' comments decide. I mean, I won't skip twenty years into the future and give them little kids with names like 'Harry' or 'Tom III' because, for one, things may not work out, and for another that's really unrealistic, but if you want _something_, just tell me and I'll see what I can do when I'm done with the whole story. **

**Thanks so much for your support, and please keep it up. **

**~bballgirl32~**


	57. A Chance to Turn Back

Riddle walked Ginny to breakfast again the next day, and Ginny couldn't find it in herself to check the enormous smile that was spread wide across her face. Even though Ginny would have laughed her head off if someone had said she'd be in a functioning, not terrible relationship with Tom Riddle five months ago, now it felt right. It was as if things had been _wrong _since he'd started becoming suspicious of her, and now that they were together again, despite him knowing everything, things had fallen right into place, exactly where they should be.

Maybe making a bet with him and promising to stay even if he turned into Voldemort wasn't her smartest idea, but Ginny wasn't going to worry about that for a while. Right now he was Riddle and he was hers, and no matter how strange it was to think, he was perfect exactly the way he was.

"Merlin, Ginny. It looks like you're on drugs," a familiar voice said, and Ginny's smile stretched a little bigger at the annoyed noise Riddle made when Abraxas stepped out of the side corridor that lead to the dungeons. "I take it that your conversation went well."

"Well enough," Ginny said. "How'd the prefect meeting go?"

"You left _him _in charge?" Riddle cut in.

"I'm not an idiot," Abraxas said defensively. He looked at Ginny. "It went fine. Cassie may have figured out that you and Riddle were locked up in his room together and cracked a few jokes about the Peverell bloodline getting sullied-" Ginny made a funny choking sound and Abraxas laughed, like he actually thought it was hilarious, "but, other than that things went well enough."

"You're my ex-boyfriend," Ginny said, trying and feeling to keep the famous Weasley blush from rising to her cheeks. It was worse because Riddle was right there, hands clenched into fists and pretending very hard not to have heard Abraxas. "Shouldn't you be too jealous and angry to even _think _about that kind of stuff?"

"Jealous and angry? I got over that as soon as I heard about Riddle's talent with the Unforgiveables. I'm rather disgusted, sure, but seeing the look on your face makes half-vomiting almost worth it."

"Is there a reason you're here, Malfoy?" Riddle cut in coolly.

"Oh," said Abraxas. "Yes, actually there is. Orion found _this-_" He held up a black diary that was filled with the really fancy thick paper that only really rich people could afford, "-a while ago, and I thought that Ginny should see it."

"What is it?" asked Riddle.

"I said _Ginny _should see it-"

"I'm telling Riddle as soon as you're gone if you won't tell me now," Ginny spoke up.

"It's not anything bad," Abraxas argued. He turned his attention to Riddle. "It won't help you take over the world or make you super powerful and it isn't going to put you in danger. It just may affect Ginny's thinking on something and I think it's best if you don't know about it."

"Should we really be talking about _this _here anyway?" asked Ginny, nodding towards the doors to the Great Hall, only ten feet in front of them.

"Why can't we?," Abraxas says. "It's not like anyone will have any idea what we're talking about, and really, what I have to say isn't all that special anyway. It could as easily pertain to a research project as anything that you're thinking of. I'm serious. It's nothing bad." They reached the Great Hall and Riddle opened the doors for Ginny, letting them go right after she passed through so that Abraxas had to reach up quickly to avoid getting hit. He continued on like it didn't affect him at all. "Now come, Ginny. You can sit by me and we can talk-"

"I want Riddle with," said Ginny. She'd just gotten him back, and there was no way that she was even going to consider losing him again. She knew exactly how he'd take it if she went off sharing secrets with another random Slytherin, and Ginny wasn't going to lose him over it. Not again.

"You might regret it," Abraxas warned her. Ginny glared at him, and he held his hands up in surrender. "Alright, Mrs. Voldemort." He stopped at the end of the Slytherin table and gestured for her to sit down. There weren't many people near that particular place, but Ginny could feel all of them looking at her as she took a seat. "Now Riddle, if you're really that opposed to being the better man and letting her listen-"

Riddle actually snorted at that as he took a seat next to Ginny. "Better man?" he asked sarcastically, just loud enough for Abraxas to hear.

The blond cracked a smile, and Ginny fancied she could see the entire Great Hall staring at the three of them. While Riddle was considered a nice guy and a lot of people seemed to genuinely like Abraxas, it still had to be stranger to see them sitting together like they were friends than it was to see a Hufflepuff at the Slytherin table.

"Very well, then." Abraxas set the diary in front of Riddle and went on, "I assume you'd only read it over Ginny's shoulder if I gave it to her, so just read that marked part out loud."

"What _is _it?" Riddle asked, repeating the question that he'd been asked earlier.

"One of Salazar Slytherin's private journals," Abraxas said. "It's probably technically yours given that he has only one heir, but Orion had some old relative who spent an arm and a leg for the complete set of the things. He had one of his house elves bring the collection to Hogwarts because he wanted to see if he could find anything on the Stone of Eons."

"Why?" asked Riddle. "He knew why there was no power left in it. He'd hardly need to do research-"

"Orion didn't think the necklace would lose all of its energy that easily," Abraxas said. "He also didn't think that Dumbledore would send Ginny back in time telling her that she could get home when the necklace wouldn't have the strength to allow her to do so. He's manipulative occasionally, but not an outright liar."

Riddle's eyes narrowed suspiciously and he slowly said, "You can't be telling me that you think she still has a chance at getting home. I _felt _the magic in the necklace, and there's hardly enough to perform the most simple of spells."

"Why don't you just read?" asked Abraxas.

Riddle paused for a moment to look at Ginny, a look that she thought was apathetic at first glance but that almost contained worry around the edges, not to mention a possessive kind of anger that told Ginny he would fight for her to stay if Abraxas was right about her having a chance at going home. He and Ginny locked eyes for a moment, and then he began slowly reading out loud.

_"The necklace that my wife requested I make for her has turned out more perfectly than I could have imagined. I do not trust the wicked creature, and though I did not wish to deny her request that I bestow upon her a powerful magical heirloom, I did not wish to regret it. Therefore, I have created a necklace that she shall never be able to truly use. _

_I have not given my wife a useless creation. Anything but, in fact. I have infused the stone with my very _essence, _and in doing so have not only marked her as my own, but have also designated her as a true Slytherin, as if she carried my own blood in her veins. These things are truly important to anyone with sense, and while I am wary in bestowing them upon her, I fully realize that she will not take advantage of the power that I will acquiesce to her. Her focus will be on figuring out how to unlock the limitless magic that I have locked inside the necklace. _

_What my deceitful wife will never understand is that while she strives and yearns for the unlimited power that I had promised to give to her, the necklace will continue to fool and resist her. Foolish though it may be, for the necklace will eternally be as useless to myself as it is to her, I have spelled it so that pure intentions and a heart of goodness alone will release the true powers of this stone. Murder, deception, and lies will fail to awaken the magic within; only those with the purest of goals shall use my creation. _

_I cannot wait to take in her expression when she comes to realize that any ideas she may have had of usurping me are entirely-_

Riddle shook his head and quit reading, the necessary material evidently already covered. Ginny's jaw almost hit her plate and Abraxas leaned forward onto the table with his hands folded and his expression ringing with an 'I told you so'.

"I remember that now," Ginny said, eyes widening. She realized that she was talking too loudly and quickly lowered her voice, "The necklace wouldn't work until I'd convinced myself that I wanted to befriend Riddle, not kill him."

"You didn't just convince yourself," Abraxas said, shaking his head. "Whatever you felt for him from your first year must've been pretty bloody potent, because your heart would've had to be entirely pure for that necklace to work."

"I don't see what this matters," said Riddle. "Perhaps I am annoyed that the necklace will be useless for what I'd originally planned its purpose to be, but what does it have to do with Ginevra? The text is clear when it says that murder will not activate the stone's magic. Killing me will do her no good."

"Honestly? That's what I thought at first," said Abraxas. "Orion called me a blind idiot and spelled it out for me. Dumbledore said he set a trigger in that necklace to send Ginny back to the future. I don't know if he was lying or not, but if that was the truth, it's not sending her back when she kills you. If Dumbledore wasn't lying about the trigger... it's more likely than not going to send Ginny back when she's... changed you."

"Wait," said Ginny, eyes wide. "If… I teach him to love… and if I change him to the point where he won't turn back into Voldemort if I go... the necklace will take me back to my own time?." Riddle opened his mouth to snap something and Abraxas started to reach for his wand, almost like he was expecting a fight, but Ginny went on, "That's ridiculous. Why in the bloody hell would I leave you if I finally get you to love me?" She shook her head, almost surprised that she wasn't wavering at all, that she wasn't jumping up and down at the opportunity to get out of killing Riddle and still make it home.

"What?" Abraxas asked, and Riddle said, "You cannot possibly be serious."

"I'm serious," Ginny said. She looked at Abraxas, "If that necklace is on Riddle when he turns good, will it…"

"Send him to the future?" Abraxas asked. "Most likely. If the trigger Dumbledore set is anything like the ones we worked with in Charms last year, it doesn't matter who it affects, as long as the requirements are met for it to be activated."

"Then you have to get rid of it," Ginny told Riddle. "Destroy it, because I fully trust that you will turn good and I don't want anyone getting send off to the future for no apparent reason. Especially not you. Unless we could both go…"

"It would be impossible," Riddle said immediately. He was looking at Ginny with the barest hint of confusion in his eyes, allowing her to see because he wanted her to know that he had questions. "There would be no obvious trigger. If you ever do turn me 'good', neither of us could be able to predict the exact moment. It would be impossible to predict, and I would have doubts as to its ability to transport both of us forward anyway."

"Oh," said Ginny. She took a deep breath. "Well, then, like I said, get rid of the thing. You have the Sword of Gryffindor if you wanna use that, although it's probably not necessary-"

"Ginevra," said Riddle, shaking his head. He grabbed her by the arm and stood up.

"Hey, I haven't even eaten-"

"I'll come make sure you're alive if you aren't in Care of Magical Creatures," Abraxas called out as Riddle pulled Ginny away.

"Why are you so mad? "Ginny asked Riddle, struggling to keep up with his ridiculously long strides as he tugged her out of the Great Hall. "I said I'd stay."

Riddle turned into the first abandoned classroom and Ginny trailed right behind. The Head Boy absentmindedly flicked a wrist- Ginny couldn't help but be just a little bit jealous at how easy the magic was for him- and shut the door behind them. As soon as they were alone, his face turned a hundred percent serious and he spun to look at Ginny.

"I do not understand you," he said, eyes blazing with frustration. "I've seen your thoughts. You miss your family more than anything, and now you say that you're willing to stay with me above returning to them. I understand that we only just reached an agreement, but I have to question your motives because that makes no sense to me-"

"I do miss my family," Ginny cut in, "but… they wouldn't miss me. They won't notice that I'm gone if I'm never there in the first place, and… none of them really need me anyway. If Abraxas is right- which he may not be- and that necklace would send me home when you're truly good… you'd be close enough to me that it would be a big deal if I left, and I already… care about you enough that I'm reluctant to leave you in the first place."

There was a long silence while Riddle chewed this over.

"I'm looking for a lie," said Riddle finally, "but I can't find one."

He dipped his head, as if trying to make eye contact, and Ginny looked away and muttered, "I'm not letting you in my head again to check, if that's what you're going to try."

"I'm trying to read you," Riddle said, shaking his head. "Though I suppose I've never had any success with that before. I hardly think it should make any difference now. Truthfully, though? You want me to… destroy that necklace?"

_No going back now. _

"Truthfully," Ginny said. She sighed. "This is my home now. I never had any super close friends in the future- I was either the fourth wheel of the Golden Trio or… kind of seen as intimidating, you know? Just strong enough to hang out with Harry Potter and be around his closest friends, but not really one of them. I mean, they were great, but... not like Abraxas or even Orion, really." She smiled up at him. "And definitely not like you."

"I would hope not," Riddle muttered. He dug in one of the pockets of his robes and pulled out the necklace, setting it on a desk. "It would be foolish of me to destroy an artifact like this, and much more so of you to allow it… but it is your last chance."

"If I did keep it," said Ginny, "would you let me wear it, anyway? Would you be willing to let me go back to my time if I had the chance?"

"I would allow you to believe I would in order to test your loyalty," replied Riddle immediately. "But no, it is doubtful that I would allow you to leave me. Unless, of course, whatever you do to me leaves me more foolish than I thought. Now, do you wish for me to destroy it, or not?"

"I suggested it in the first place," Ginny reminded him. Her voice wasn't as strong as she liked and she took a deep breath. "Although... I guess if you value it too much as one of Slytherin's artifacts, you could give it to Dumbledore or even Slughorn. If not, knock yourself out."

Riddle hesitated for a moment, and then picked up the necklace, shaking his head. "It is useless to anyone who would truly _use _the power. Such a _waste_, and yet I do not want to get rid of it." He handed it to Ginny. "Take it to Dumbledore and see whether or not he cannot reverse the trigger."

"Why?" asked Ginny. "I hardly want it-"

"I find it fitting that I give you something that Slytherin used in part to mark his wife as his own. I am possessive, Ginevra, and right now you are mine. I might as well make it official."

"I am not _yours_," Ginny protested.

"You just made a deal that you would stay with me as long as I wish it, and your conviction was such that I did not even insist upon an Unbreakable vow. I believe that makes you very much mine," Riddle told her seriously. "Although, if you must know, we are equal in that while I will intentionally _force _you to stay with me, you are inadvertently doing the same thing every second I am in your presence."

"That was almost romantic," said Ginny, grinning at his words. "Give me a while, and I might even have you saying that like you don't want to kill me for it." She grabbed the necklace and put it in her pocket. "Now… we need to get to class, but I'll go see if I can't get the necklace un-magicked during my free period."

"Very well, but in case you have failed to remember what the basilisk did to McCreery, you may wish to cease wearing it until you are finished at Hogwarts."

"Oh, right," said Ginny. "I'll wait then, but I should still go see if I can't get that trigger taken care of. If there even _is _one. I don't want to accidentally wind up fifty years in the future if you decide to turn good early."

"I would not hold your breath on that account," said Riddle. He looked at Ginny once more and shook his head. "I still cannot help but be suspicious as to why you would possibly wish to stay _here_-"

"I've said it a million times," said Ginny simply. "Given how egotistical you are, I don't know why you didn't just assume it's _you_ in the first place, but I'll have you convinced soon enough. Until then… I've got Care of Magical Creatures and you have Ancient Runes, so…" She leaned up and pecked him quickly on the lips, then said, "Bye, Riddle", and headed for the door.

When she turned back to look one more time, the Head Boy was still staring at her with frustration obvious on his features. He still didn't understand her, and Ginny decided that it would be awfully fun watching him try to figure her out.

Shutting the door behind her so that Riddle couldn't see Ginny's wide smile, she reached into her pocket and held tightly to the necklace, re-thinking her decision as she walked out to Hagrid's hut, yet somehow managing to easily erase any doubts that popped into her head.

Ginny really was sticking with Riddle for good, and as soon as Dumbledore either confirmed that there was no spell on the necklace or took off any one that was, well… there'd be no way for her to turn back.

Funnily enough, as Ginny took a seat next to Abraxas and tried to avoid Kettleburn's eyes as he growled at her for being five minutes late, she really didn't care. There was something about 1945 that just felt _right _to her, and no matter how much she'd miss what she had lost, Ginny knew in her heart that she'd found a lot more.

…

** A/N- **

**Okay, changed AN, although anyone who's read this the first time probably won't read it again. THIS IS NOT THE LAST CHAPTER. I thought it would make a good last chapter when I was feeling cruddy and half passed out from pain medication. Now that I'm rereading it, I realize that I should have at least have another conversation with Dumbledore/Ginny, tie up some of Mason's loose ends, and that I need to just make everything a little neater.**

**So, I've figured I still have one or two chapters, like I said originally. More likely than not, it'll wind up just being one. However, there'll also be an epilogue in addition to that, so I'm about ninety percent sure that I'll have two more things posted before the story is totally complete. **

**Unfortunately, classes started up for me again last week and I have more homework than I thought, so I'm kind of a little behind. I will get the next chapter up around 8/29, though. **

**Thanks for being patient. **

**~bballgirl32~**


	58. The First Few Steps

Ginny hovered slightly unsurely in the doorway of the Transfiguration classroom. Dumbledore had just finished explaining a lesson to a group of third years and was now ambling about the room, humming to himself as he watched the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs work out how to transfigure a mouse into a cup.

"Er…" Ginny intoned awkwardly.

When he heard Ginny speak, the future Headmaster turned around to face her, a slight smile on his face as he did so. Ginny clutched the Stone of Eons more tightly in her hand, fidgeting very uncomfortably under his piercing blue eyes.

"Ah, Miss Peverell. This is an unexpected pleasure. There are lemon drops on my desk, if you would like one-"

"No thank you, Professor," Ginny said hesitantly. "I was just wondering… er… I mean I wanted to talk to you, but… I didn't know you had class. I can come back later if you want me to."

"Oh no, it's quite fine," said Dumbledore. "My lesson is finished and I find that I can always trust Ravenclaws to study hard and Hufflepuffs to obey the rules. If it were a group of Slytherins and Gryffindors, I would be must less apt to leave, but as it is, I think I can allow them to practice alone for a few moments."

"If you're sure," said Ginny quickly, even though Dumbledore was already making his way towards the doorway.

"Of course," he said as he left the room, sending one warning glance over his shoulder at all of the curiously watching third-years. He shut the door behind him and went on, "What can I help you with?"

Ginny swallowed.

"I don't know how much you know, exactly, because sometimes it seems like you know everything and I don't think that's possible, _but, _in the event that you don't know all of this stuff, can you at least pretend to? Like, make a conjecture based on what you would do with the information provided?"

"I suppose that I can try," said Dumbledore politely.

"Alright," Ginny said. She eyed her Transfiguration professor carefully and tried to determine how much he knew, but he was smiling so friendlily and his eyes were shining so brightly that she almost couldn't help but worry that he had no idea what she was talking about. "Say that there's this boy who has made a couple of… Horcruxes."

Dumbledore's expression didn't change at the word, which was a good sign.

"And say that this boy is very evil, and so charismatic and generally likable that after a while, with his Horcruxes and evilness and charisma, he manages to take over the world. Are you following me?"

"I am," said Dumbledore slowly.

Ginny exhaled. "Well… if you were there in the future, after this Dark Lord took over, and things got bad enough that everyone knew he'd never be beat, or die naturally, and you had_this_-" Ginny dug into her pocket and pulled out the Stone of Eons, holding it up for him to see, "-how would you use it?"

Dumbledore stroked his bead thoughtfully, studying the Stone that Ginny was danging in front of him.

"The only option that I could think of would be to send a person back in time to take care of the problem at its root," he replied, not even mentioning how odd it was that Ginny had the Stone in her possession in the first place. His tone of voice was almost the same as he used when he was answering a question about homework.

"I know that," Ginny said. "But… when you say 'take care of', you don't mean kill, do you?"

"It appears that you are familiar with the properties of the Stone. If the person I chose to send back in time would have a strong desire to kill the other, it wouldn't work. The only way I could see them succeeding in saving the world would be if they were to find some amount of light in the dark wizard and help it grow."

"And what if they succeed? I've heard the magic in the Stone can be charmed to reverse the time-travel process. I take it that you'd give your time-traveler a chance to get home. Wouldn't you?"

Dumbledore looked at her oddly. "It would only be right."

"But… you wouldn't expect the time-traveler to be all that accepting of saving this evil boy, would you? So… you'd tell her to kill him even though you know she doesn't _really _want to, and you wouldn't mention anything about this 'saving' stuff, when really your whole plan all along would be to have her have him turn good. Except, because you couldn't tell her to go befriend him because she would think you were crazy if you did, you couldn't tell her that the necklace would take her back to her own time if she completed the mission that you intended for her to complete and not the one she thought she was supposed to complete. So... you lied and said it'd take her back to the future if she _killed_ him because you knew she wouldn't go back in time otherwise, and then just trusted that she'd eventually figure out what was really going on on her own."

"Well…" said Dumbledore slowly, his face slightly blank as he tried to figure out what, exactly she had just been babbling on about, "I suppose I can see myself doing that... if I understood you right. Although it does sound quite risky of me, doesn't it?"

"Just a bit," said Ginny.

"_But_, it seems as if though it worked. You did figure it out."

Ginny sighed. "Yeah, I figured it out. Luckily." She took a deep breath and held the necklace out to him. "And I appreciate you giving me the chance to get home, but… I _am _home. With Abraxas and maybe Orion and _definitely _Riddle. So… I would really appreciate it if you could reverse any charms you would've put on this necklace for me. Because I'm going to stay here."

At this, Albus Dumbledore looked genuinely surprised for the first time that Ginny could remember. His blue eyes widened and his smiled stalled for only a moment before it split into a wide grin.

"You understand that this trigger you are talking about is formed entirely from the energy of your first time travel," Dumbledore said slowly. "If I release it now, there won't be any way for you to get it back. Reversing the trigger would leave you here forever."

Ginny said her next words without even thinking about them.

"I'm not leaving Riddle."

Dumbledore smiled.

"The power of love is something really special," said Dumbledore. "It's amazing that someone such as yourself can know everything Tom has been and can still be willing to give up so much for him. I can't say for sure what I was thinking when I selected you Miss Peverell, but I do doubt that I ever expected this… If you are sure, I can deactivate the trigger that was charmed into your necklace."

"I don't love…" Ginny started, but Dumbledore gave her this knowing, piercing look that had her shutting her mouth. "I… I mean yes. Please deactivate the necklace."

Dumbledore took the necklace from her and looked at it for only a moment before he stowed it in the pocket of his robes. "I'm going to speak with Mister Riddle later this evening about a Defense Against the Dark Arts position that's going to be open once Professor Merrythought retires next year. Armando has already found a replacement, but I was thinking Tom may appreciate an internship. It'll take me a while to work on the necklace, so I'll just give it to him then-"

"You're going to offer him a job working with the _Dark Arts_?" Ginny blurted. "I mean, I trust Riddle, but-"

The future Headmaster smiled patiently and held up a hand.

"I recognize your concern, Miss Peverell, but I have discussed it quite thoroughly with Armando, and we both think it would be a great opportunity for him, at least until the war ends and jobs become more readily available for non-Purebloods."

"A good opportunity, maybe," said Ginny, "but I don't know..."

"I may not fully trust him, but I do trust you," said Dumbledore. "You are one of the most determined people I have met. I have no doubt that you'll will him away from any danger."

"Well… if you think so," said Ginny unsurely, wondering at how in the world she'd deal with Riddle living at Hogwarts and her living wherever else and finding a job wherever she can, and… Merlin, she hadn't considered half of those things, and it was terrifying to think about.

"I do." There was a loud crash from behind the door, and Ginny jumped out of her skin while Dumbledore only looked over his shoulder and smiled. "Now, I think that's my cue to return to class. I will give that necklace to Riddle when I speak with him this evening."

Dumbledore started to turn, but Ginny spoke before he could open the door again.

"Um, Professor… Do you mind me asking exactly _how _you knew everything that's been going on?"

The future Headmaster chuckled and said, "I'd like to think that it's a sixth sense… Well, and the portraits in Armando's office have a tendency to be quite chatty." Another crash, and Dumbledore gave another chuckle and said, "I'll see you in class tomorrow, Miss Peverell", before he calmly made his way back into the classroom.

…

Ginny sat at the coffee table in her common room later that afternoon with all of her Arithimancy homework spread out in front of her, frowning as she gnawed on the end of her quill. She'd been almost doing well with the Head Girl stuff, but she hadn't exactly been focusing on her homework over the last few days, and now she was extremely confused and way behind.

Just as she was starting to round up the focus to figure out the first problem, the portrait swung open and erased any immediate chance of her starting in on her homework. Ginny looked up and grinned when she saw Riddle step into the common room, her smile widening even further when the Head Boy actually granted her something that may or may not have been a smile but definitely _wasn't _a smirk.

"Thank Merlin you're here," Ginny said dramatically. "I didn't do my Arithimancy homework this weekend, and I wasn't paying all that much attention last week either, so I have no idea what's going on."

"I suppose I can help you," said Riddle as he walked further into the common room, "but do you mind if I return something to you first?"

"Return something to me?" Ginny asked.

He reached into his robes and pulled out the Stone of Eons in response. To Ginny's surprise, he continued walking forward until he was behind her, then gently brushed her hair out of the way before he undid the chain and moved the necklace so that the enormous emerald was resting at the hollow of her throat. Ginny swallowed when Riddle's fingers grazed the back of her neck as he fastened the chain.

"Now," the Head Boy said smoothly, dropping a light kiss on Ginny's neck before he stood to his full height, "you truly are mine."

"You hardly needed a necklace to be able to say that," Ginny said after a second, biting her lip because Riddle was being sweet and it almost felt like her heart was going to explode out of pure happiness that this amazing person was actually _hers_. "Besides, I'll have to take it off anyway. Remember? The basilisk."

"I wouldn't be especially concerned if I wasn't worried that you'd be sending it after me the majority of the time," Riddle said dryly. "Well, and I suppose that I should be more against the idea of Hogwarts being closed down now. Dumbledore said that you'd already know, but-"

"Oh!" Ginny said, eyes widening a little when she realized that Dumbledore must've gotten a chance to speak with Riddle about it. "The internship. I didn't think he was going to talk to you about that until later tonight."

"I was requesting something of Dippet when he walked into the office and found me there." Riddle shrugged. "I suppose its not the most exciting thing I could be doing, but it's more than a half-blood could manage to get in the Ministry right now."

"And you've always wanted the post," added Ginny. She paused. "Or at least I assume you did. In the original timeline, you actually cursed the Defense Against the Dark Arts position at Hogwarts after Dumbledore refused to give you the job. I never had a single teacher for more than a year in that class because of you."

The corner of Riddle's mouth quirked up in amusement. "My most sincere apologies, Ginevra. I've never wanted the job quite that badly so far, but I had been planning to ask for it next year so that I would have more time to explore the school-"

"And corrupt young minds?" Ginny cut in.

"Naturally." Riddle smirked. "An internship is hardly what I was looking for, but I suppose that you, at least, approve."

"Eh. Even that's kind of iffy. I'm not sure about you teaching Slytherins about the Dark Arts."

"I'm interning," Riddle reminded her. "I can't exactly come up with my own curriculum. I think Dumbledore did this on purpose, so he can keep an eye on my 'progress'."

"Did you accept anyway?" asked Ginny.

"I did," said Riddle. "Now, enough of this. I actually have something to tell you that you, at least, may see as rather important."

"And what would that be?" asked Ginny curiously.

"I just received a letter from the orphan girl."

"Her name is Addison," said Ginny defensively, even as she was smiling at the pleasant surprise. Hearing from Addison, who hadn't been at her mind much at all since Christmas, was about the last thing that Ginny expected Riddle to mention. "And what'd she say?"

Slowly, in a tone that had Ginny rather worried, like he was worried about how she'd take what he had to say, Riddle began, "A woman claiming to be her aunt has approached the orphanage and asked to adopt her." He studied Ginny's features for a moment and went on, "Addison pleaded incessantly with me to arrange one more visit before the final preparations are made and she departs for her aunt's manor in Ireland."

"Addison's _leaving_?" was the first thing that Ginny could think of to say.

"This Saturday," said Riddle. He was watching Ginny carefully, like he was worried that she was going to be excessively upset.

"Well… that's a good thing, right?" asked Ginny hopefully, going for a smile even though she wasn't sure what she should be feeling. She didn't really know Addison that well, but knowing that she'd probably only see the sweet orphan one more time did really upset her. "I mean, at least she'll have somewhere to go. Um… do you know who her aunt is?"

"She's a Gamp," said Riddle. "Addison never specifically said anything about her, but 'Gamp' is an old pureblood name that's nearly as prestigious as your precious Malfoy's. I'm assuming that she's rich, but that's really all I know."

"Well, that's a good thing," said Ginny. "Right?"

"She'll have enough food to eat, at least," Riddle said. He leaned forward in his seat and craned his neck to see Ginny's Arithimancy book. "Now, I suppose that, since Dippet gave us permission to miss class on Friday to visit her, I might as well attempt to get you caught up before you fall further behind. What, exactly, do you need help with?"

Ginny smiled sheepishly and admitted, "Well... all of it."

To her surprise, Riddle didn't make any comments about her lack of intelligence or tell her to ask 'Black' or 'Malfoy' for help. Instead, he only sighed exasperatedly before her leaned forward and said, "Then I suppose we'd better get started."

...

**And that's a wrap. Okay, I know this is a totally different AN than what's been coming up for the last million or so years, but after thinking on it for a while, I've decided that pretty much everything that needs wrapping up is wrapped up right here. I may add an epilogue if the fancy ever strikes, but as of now, I'm changing this story to completed. Riddle and Ginny's relationship is set, Addison has a home, and things are as tied up as they're going to get without me skipping ahead a few years- which is where an epilogue would come in- so... the story is finished. Thanks for reading and reviewing, and that's that I suppose. **


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